Global Briefs
February 25, 2005
Kyoto Pact in Force, Without United States
TOKYO — The Kyoto global warming pact went into force last week, seven years after it was negotiated, imposing limits on emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases scientists blame for rising world temperatures, melting glaciers and rising oceans.
The agreement, negotiated in Japan’s ancient capital of Kyoto in 1997 and ratified by 140 nations, officially went into force at midnight eastern time.
“We have been calling on the United States to join. But the country that is the world’s biggest emitter has not joined yet, and that is regrettable,” Japan’s top government spokesman, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda, told reporters.
CIA: China Threatens U.S. Military in Asia
WASHINGTON — China’s military buildup could tilt the strategic balance with Taiwan and also threaten U.S. forces in Asia, CIA Director Porter Goss warned last week. Testifying before the Senate Intelligence Committee, Goss also highlighted threats to the United States from North Korea, which he warned could resume missile tests anytime after it boasted of its nuclear weapons’ might last week.
“Beijing’s military modernization and military buildup could tilt the balance of power in the Taiwan Strait,” said Goss, who took over as CIA director in September. “Improved Chinese capabilities threaten U.S. forces in the region,” he told the committee in charge of assessing the main security threats to the United States.
Goss said that China was stepping up efforts to “develop robust, survivable nuclear armed missiles as well as conventional capability for use in regional conflicts.”
No Confidence in French Polynesian Leader
POLYNESIA — Nearly two decades of leading French Polynesia came to an end for Gaston Flosse after a no-confidence vote called by a party seeking independence for the Pacific territory.
A long-standing ally of President Jacques Chirac, 73-year-old Flosse and his government were forced to stand down after the no-confidence motion was adopted by 30 votes in the territory’s 57-seat Assembly.
South Asia as Online Drug Source
More people who turn to the Internet for pharmaceutical drugs are turning to Asia.
“Canadian and Mexican pharmacies are simply no match!” boasted MAC Pharma Network, a leading offshore pharmacy based in the Indian subcontinent.
“Buyers are willing to wait for two and sometimes even three whole weeks before their medicines arrive,” said Mathew Stevens, MAC Pharma’s senior manager for customer relations. “It’s unbelievable how many Americans are placing orders for drugs they need so much not just for their health and well-being but more often than not their survival,” claimed the young manager.
MAC Pharma Network is not the only Asian pharmacy doing well. A host of other smaller sites have popped up during the last one or two years from almost every Asian country on the map.
Comments
Got something to say?