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Wed
31
Dec

PACIFIC DRUG RING LEADER GETS 22-YEAR SENTENCE

Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 12/31/2003 - 00:00

HONOLULU (The Maui News, Dec. 30) - Described as the leader of a Maui-based drug ring with ties to the Mainland and Pacific, a Wailuku man has been sentenced to nearly 22 years in federal prison.

Polotani "Paul" Latu, 31, was also ordered to pay a $25,000 fine as part of the sentence imposed Dec. 15 by U.S. District Judge Helen Gillmor.

Latu's prison term of 21 years and 10 months was the longest handed down so far to defendants indicted in connection with the drug ring, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Muehleck.

"I hope it sends the message that if you are involved in drug dealing and federal investigators are involved, you're going to be dealt with severely," Muehleck said. "If you violate the law, you're liable for federal investigation and prosecution and those sentences are more severe than under the state system."

Latu was among more than 55 people indicted in Hawaii and on the...

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Wed
31
Dec

FIJI’S AIR PACIFIC TO ADD FLIGHT MARSHALS

Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 12/31/2003 - 00:00

FIJI’S AIR PACIFIC TO ADD FLIGHT MARSHALS

By Otilly Rabuku

SUVA, Fiji (FijiSUN, Dec. 31) - Fiji’s national airline, Air Pacific, is offering security training for its flight staff, in response to a growing global terrorism threat.

Air Pacific acting chief executive officer, Josephine Yee Joy, remained tight-lipped on the issue but confirmed its flight crews had undergone aviation security training.

The FijiSUN also understands that the airline plans to hire three sky marshals from Australia who will provide security training to the cabin crew and pilots.

Part of the training includes martial arts, while it is not known if instructions will be given on responses to firearm threats. 

Fiji Military Forces spokesman, Warrant Officer Neumi Leweni, said he was not aware of any request to assist in the training.

"If the sky marshals come in, then they would be using dummies instead...

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Wed
31
Dec

AUSSIE CATTLE SHARES JUMP AS U.S. RANCHERS REEL

Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 12/31/2003 - 00:00

MELBOURNE, Australia (Radio Australia, Dec. 31) - Share prices in Australia's second biggest cattle company have jumped following the detection of mad cow disease in the United States.

The Australian Agricultural Company is the only local cattle company listed on the Australian Stock Exchange and has seen a 17 percent increase in share prices since last week's announcement of the discovery of the disease in Washington state.

The business includes 400,000 cattle and 21 cattle stations in Northern Australia.

Chief executive Peter Holmes a'Court is cautious about the share jump, saying the success of the business depends on management.

But he says there are opportunities for the business to make further gains in major markets, like Japan.

"South American will be in there trying very hard to get market share from Americans, as we will be trying to fill any void created," he said.

...

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Wed
31
Dec

‘WESTERNIZATION’ NO PANACEA FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

Submitted by piradmin on Wed, 12/31/2003 - 00:00

Commentary

‘WESTERNIZATION’ NO PANACEA FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

By A. Gaffar Peang-Meth

HAGATNA, Guam (Pacific Daily News, Dec. 31) - One of Asia's best-known, world-class statesman is 80-year-old Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore. Lee converted Singapore, a small island with a population of slightly more than four million, from Third-World to First-World status in one generation.

Fareed Zakaria, editor of Newsweek International, wrote that Richard Nixon felt Lee would have achieved the status of a Churchill, Disraeli or Gladstone, had Lee lived in another country at another time.

Lee is an Asian intellectual giant, whose blunt words on numerous subjects have made him politically incorrect. And his unambiguous advice on attaining economic growth, while maintaining political order and control, has carried great influence.

The Council on Foreign Relations' "Foreign Affairs Agenda 1995: Critical Issues in Foreign Policy" contains a...

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Wed
31
Dec

SLOW-ACTING FIJI GOVERNMENT THREATENS FISHING INDUSTRY

Submitted by piradmin on Wed, 12/31/2003 - 00:00

Editorial

FijiSUN

SUVA, Fiji (Dec. 31) - The almighty row between the Department of Fisheries and the nation’s fishing industry operators represents a perfect example of why the civil service has to change its culture, its values and its operations.

All licenses expire tomorrow and the department has decided to examine each and every license issued to ensure that it is genuine before issuing a renewal.

About time too, say industry sources.

But the highly detailed information required by the department takes time to compile. It is not something that can be produced overnight. 

Now the department left it until the middle of this month to commence asking for this information when officials must surely have known that it could not be delivered before December 31.

In fact, at least one firm says it was still receiving requests for information on Monday.

It must be stressed that this is seen as a positive step by many in the fishing...

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Wed
31
Dec

U.S.-ASIA PACIFIC VOICES ON COMBATING TERRORISM IN 2003

Submitted by piradmin on Wed, 12/31/2003 - 00:00

Numerous speakers and program participants at the East-West Center have offered different perspectives on terrorism and global violence, how it has impacted their own countries, and how the world might best move forward in 2003. Below is a summary of some of those perspectives.

Included in this report:

1. Bambang Harymurti, editor-in-chief of Tempo, a leading Indonesian weekly newsmagazine: Is Indonesia The Next Afghanistan?

2. Haynes Johnson, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter, best-selling author, TV commentator, and Knight Chair in Journalism at the University of Maryland: America And The Crisis Of Change

3. Walter Nalangu, manager of news and current affairs at the Solomon Islands Broadcasting Company and a Fall 2002 Jefferson Fellow: Violence Targets Media

4. Participants of "Changing Faces: Envisioning Women's Leadership in Asia, the Pacific and the United States": Women Must Lead In Fighting Terrorism

5. Bina Sharif, Pakistani-American...

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