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The navies of the United States, Australia, India, Japan and Singapore have begun a massive naval exercise, codenamed “Malabar”, in the Bay of Bengal.

Thirty-four ships and submarines from the five countries have joined the six-day exercise, about 100 nautical miles off the Andaman archipelago.

Some analysts say the war games are an attempt by these countries to contain China’s growing power. The participants deny this, but Beijing has expressed its concerns.

China, which has not officially commented on the drill, is known to be unhappy over the event as it is being conducted in the Bay of Bengal for the first time. China has been cultivating naval cooperation with Bangladesh and Myanmar to gain access to the Bay of Bengal. China has also been strengthening military cooperation with Sri Lanka

“This will perhaps be the biggest ever peace-time joint naval exercise in Asia,” Indian navy spokesman Captain Vinay Garg said.

Date: September 3, 2007
Article: Five-nation naval exercise begins
Reference: News Post

Infectious diseases are emerging more quickly around the globe, spreading faster and becoming increasingly difficult to treat, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Thursday.

In its annual World Health Report, the United Nations agency warned there was a good possibility that another major scourge like AIDS, SARS or Ebola fever with the potential of killing millions would appear in the coming years.

“Infectious diseases are now spreading geographically much faster than at any time in history,” the WHO said.

It said it was vital to keep watch for new threats like the emergence in 2003 of SARS, or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, which spread from China to 30 countries and killed 800 people.”It would be extremely naive and complacent to assume that there will not be another disease like AIDS, another Ebola, or another SARS, sooner or later,” the report warned.

Since the 1970s, the WHO said, new threats have been identified at an “unprecedented rate” of one or more every year, meaning that nearly 40 diseases exist today which were unknown just over a generation ago.

Over the last five years alone, WHO experts had verified more than 1,100 epidemics of different diseases.

With more than 2 billion people traveling by air every year, the U.N. agency said: “an outbreak or epidemic in one part of the world is only a few hours away from becoming an imminent threat somewhere else.”

Date: August 23, 2007
Article: Infectious diseases spreading faster than ever: U.N.
Reference: Fox New

First it was pet food, then toys, now the safety of Chinese made clothes is being called into question.

New Zealand’s Ministry of Consumer Affairs is investigating claims that clothes contaminated with high levels of formaldehyde are being sold in New Zealand.

The gas is commonly used in clothing manufacture, but the programme found levels up to 900 times higher than considered safe by the World Health Organisation in garments it tested. Exposure to high levels of formaldehyde can cause cancer in humans.

The claims are being aired on a New Zealand television program called Target.

Authorities are also investigating safety issues involving Chinese-made children’s flannelette pyjamas. The Warehouse has withdrawn the TWL brand of pyjamas while the Commerce Commission investigates whether the garments were faulty.

Last month, two boys suffered minor burns when their TWL pyjamas ignited.

Date: August 21, 2007
Article: NZ investigates claims of Chinese clothes contamination
Reference: The New Zealand Herald
Reference: Taipei Times

Two Chinese shoemakers and a French supermarket group have been ordered to pay Nike compensation over fake shoes, China’s state media agency has said.

Jinjiang Longzhibu Shoes, Jinjiang Kangwei Shoes and France’s Auchan, must pay a total of 350,000 yuan ($46,100; £23,300) to Nike, China’s Xinhua said.

The fake Nike trainers were found on sale in Auchan’s Shanghai store.

Despite Beijing’s pledges to clamp down on counterfeiting, fake goods are still widely produced and sold in China.

This has led to repeated complaints from Western governments, most recently by the US, which last week formally requested that the World Trade Organization crack down on Chinese piracy and counterfeiting.

Date: August 21, 2007
Article: Nike compensated over China fakes
Reference: Xinhuanet

Barely three days after the final installment of the “Harry Potter” series “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” hit the international market July 21, the book’s Chinese translations appeared online.

At least three groups of volunteers were found to have translated the book and posted the translations online for free. The most influential group calls itself the International Witches and Wizards Association, and is apparently led by a 15-year-old boy only known by his nickname Wizard Harry.

The work was done meticulously, Chinese blogs quoted sources. Each chapter was proof-read three times before being posted. The translators had little sleep during the three days, and survived on instant noodles.

The local students added notices to internet editions stating that translations were not for commercial use - to avoid the threat of copyright infringement charges.

“We translated the book because we love Harry, and we do not intend to use it for commercial purposes,” the notices said.

About 11 million copies of the novel were sold in the initial 24 hours. But Chinese publishers fear it could lead to counterfeit books, in a country where piracy is rife. The official Chinese print version is due to be published in October.

Date: August 16, 2007
Article: Online translations of “Harry Potter” draw fire
Reference: BBC World News

Nokia is offering to replace 46 million batteries for its mobile phones after reports of overheating while charging.

The problems are confined to BL-5C batteries made by Matsushita between December 2005 and November 2006.

More than 250 million BL-5C batteries made for Nokia by other manufacturers are not affected, the company said.

The mobile giant said there had been 100 reports of overheating, and that the problem battery had been used inside more than 50 different phones.

In a statement, the company said: “Nokia has identified that in very rare cases the affected batteries could potentially experience over heating initiated by a short circuit while charging, causing the battery to dislodge.”

Nokia said there had been no reports of “serious injuries or property damage” as a result of the overheating.

Customers can check on the Nokia website if the battery in their mobile phone is affected.

Date: August 14, 2007
Article: Nokia admits mobile battery issue
Reference: CNN

Global warming is forecast to set in with a vengeance after 2009, with at least half of the five following years expected to be hotter than 1998, the warmest year on record, scientists reported on Thursday.

Climate experts have long predicted a general warming trend over the 21st century spurred by the greenhouse effect, but this new study gets more specific about what is likely to happen in the decade that started in 2005.

By including short-term natural events, such as El Nino, a UK team says it is able to offer 10-year projections. Models have previously focused on how the globe will warm over a century.

Writing in Science, Met Office researchers project that at least half of the years between 2009 and 2014 are likely to exceed existing records.

However, the Hadley Centre researchers said that the influence of natural climatic variations were likely to dampen the effects of emissions from human activities between now and 2009.

Currently, 1998 is the warmest year on record, when the global mean surface temperature was 14.54C (58.17F).

“The climate has already changed, and it is continuing to change; people need the best information available to help them adapt to these changes,” Doug Smith, a climate scientist at the Hadley Centre, said.

Date: August 9, 2007
Article: Ten-year climate model unveiled
Reference: Scientific American

It’s a crucial day for Dr Mohammed Haneef as his request for a review of the decision to cancel his Australian work visa, will be heard in a Brisbane court today (August 8).

Haneef’s visa was cancelled by the Australian government soon after he obtained bail — a move challenged by his lawyers. His lawyer Stephen Keim has now moved the court in Australia to defend him in this matter.

For doctor Haneef, the outcome of this case is significant as it would decide the future of his career as a doctor. If Haneef does not get this visa it could mean an end of his plans to work abroad.

27 year old Haneef, who trained at a hospital in Liverpool, UK before moving to Australia, was arrested at Brisbane airport on the July 2 on suspicion of terror-related activities.

Haneef was released when the Director of Public Prosecutions withdrew the charge on July 27. Haneef’s passport was returned to him and he left Australia for Bangalore on the July 29.

Date: August 8, 2007
Reference: Times Now

The Mozambique authorities have seized thousands of boxes of counterfeit toothpaste, which they fear may contain a potentially deadly chemical.

The seizures follow a ban on all sales of Colgate Maximum Cavity Protection toothpaste issued last week.

Colgate has denied any link with the products found in the capital, Maputo and around the country.

The boxes are labelled “Made in South Africa” but the true origin of the counterfeit products is not clear.

In June, some Chinese-made toothpaste, which also contained dangerous levels of diethylene glycol (DEG), normally used in anti-freeze and solvents was found in Canada and the US.

The chemical can cause abdominal pains, nausea, vomiting, damage to kidneys and liver and, if ingested in large amounts can be fatal.

But no cases of people falling sick have been reported in Mozambique.

Date: August 6, 2007
Reference: Maputo seizes ‘toxic toothpaste’

China has banned crude and insensitive slogans such as ‘Raise fewer babies but more piggies’ that have stoked rural anger over the country’s strict family planning policy, state media said on Sunday.

Slogans such as ‘One more baby means one more tomb’ have been forbidden, and a list of 190 acceptable slogans were issued by the National Population and Family Planning Commission, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

Such slogans are often found painted on roadside buildings in rural areas.

A generation after being imposed, China’s population control policies continue to engender anger and resentment, especially among the largely rural country’s farmers.

Such anger extends beyond the slogans to the sometimes brutal methods used to enforce the policy, such as heavy fines, seizure of property and forced sterilizations or abortions.

Local authorities themselves face demotions, criticism or the loss of jobs if they fail to hit population targets.

The Chinese government contends the one-child policy has helped prevent at least 300 million births - about the size of the US population - and aided China’s recent, rapid economic development.

Date: August 5, 2007
Article: China bans insensitive one-child slogans
Reference: BBC News