Author: Minivan News

Island growth in Maldives may counter rising sea levels: Speigel Online

The Maldives may be growing with the rising waters, say a team of six scientists studying the sediments and growth of Maldivian islands.

“We take climate change very seriously,” says Paul Kench, a geologist from the University of Auckland in New Zealand. “But in order to correctly predict the real consequences for the atolls, we first have to understand how they will actually respond to rising sea levels in the future.”

The Maldives attained their current form about 4,000 to 5,000 years ago, according to the scientists’ research. Even natural disasters like the 2004 tsunami, which killed at least 82 people in the Maldives, do not destroy the islands, Kench claims. On the contrary, the Indian Ocean tsunami even added new sediments. “We’ve measured up to 30 centimeters of growth in some places,” he says.

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Major housing and infrastructure projects announced by President Nasheed

New housing projects would begin in Thinadhoo and Kolamaafushi on Monday, President Nasheed announced during his weekly radio address. Similar projects would soon be launched in four other islands including Kulhudhuffushi, Manadhoo, Naifaru, and Feydhoo on Addu atoll.

The government was “extremely pleased” that housing projects could start outside the capital, he said. A road project would begin in Kulhudhuffushi, and several harbour projects would also be started on Monday. Road projects in Thinadhoo, Addu atoll, Fuahmulah and Laamu atoll would also begin soon.

On the Independence Day, the New National Museum, the Velaanaage complex, a new building for the Defence Ministry, and a new building for the Police would be officially opened.

President Nasheed paid tribute to former President Nasir (1968-1978) for his efforts to secure full independence for the country from Britain. The Maldives was a British protectorate from 1887 until 25 July 1965.

Maldives gained full independence on 26 July 1965.

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Australians have “primitive phobia” of sharks and “19th century idea of the ocean”: Tim Winton

“We have this 19th century idea of the ocean; we still have this idea that the ocean can absorb the punishment that we dish out,” says award-winning Australian writer Tim Winton. “We think we can just keep putting a few hooks in and we’ll pull something out.”

“People have begun to understand that the great fish like tuna and the marlins and the swordfish are in massive decline … but people don’t realise that sharks are among that cohort. In fact, sharks are really more threatened than whales or dolphins,” he says.

“I’m asking people to be conscious of the kind of footprint that we leave… It’d be a sad thing to bequeath to our children an empty, acidic ocean.”

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Mass circumcisions for young Zimbabwean men

80% of young Zimbabwean men will be circumcised in a plan by Population Services International and the Zimbabwe government to cut the incidence of AIDS in the country.

The intention is to operate on 1.2 million men using a ‘conveyor belt’ system that performs 10 operations an hour.

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MDP calls for disciplinary action against “elements within police”

The ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has condemned the mistreatment of minors arrested by police in their ongoing special operation to curb unrest and violence in the capital.

A press release issued by the party yesterday states that the party received numerous complaints from parents and members of the public alleging that the boys taken into custody were not fed for over 12 hours, blindfolded and beaten, and had their hair forcibly shaved off.

The statement expresses concern that the unlawful actions of “elements within the police” could undermine growing public support and approval won by the Maldives Police Service for its successes in combating crime and drug abuse.

The party called on the Police Integrity Commission to investigate the complaints and take “immediate action” against the police officers accused of custodial beatings.

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President Obama signs financial reform bill

“The toughest set of Wall Street regulations and consumer protections against greedy financial practices since the Great Depression” has been signed into law by President Obama, writes Kenneth Bazinet for the New York Daily News.

The new rules will “ensure that it is more profitable to play by the rules than to game the system,” says President Obama.

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Master navigator Mau Piailug dies aged 78

Micronesian master navigator Mau Piailug has died on the western Pacific island of Satawal at the age of 78.

In 1976, without a compass, and using only stars, sun and wind, he navigated a traditional sailing canoe more than 3,000 miles across the Pacific from Hawaii to Tahiti.

This month-long voyage proved that indigenous people had been capable of exploring and colonising the Pacific islands.

The vessel named Hukule’a used in the voyage is currently being restored as part of a five year project that includes training young navigators and visiting ports while circumnavigating the earth.

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Sri Lankan police and military in battle against dengue

An Environmental Protection Unit has been established by the Sri Lankan police to assist in the country’s current dengue eradication campaign which is being conducted by the army and police.

Traders have been warned not to dump their garbage in front of their premises, says the Inspector General of Police Mahinda Balasuriya, and the police have already arrested over 300 persons who have flouted this order and taken them before courts.

Police have been deployed to provide security for public health inspectors to carry out house-to-house searches for mosquito breeding areas and take action against persons who contribute to the spread of dengue carrying mosquitoes.

Sri Lanka has officially reported around 25,000 dengue fever victims and over 150 dengue related deaths so far this year.

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US bank failed ‘to spot’ billions of Mexican drug money: Bloomberg

One of largest banks in the US, Wachovia Corporation, “admitted it didn’t do enough to spot illicit funds in handling $378.4 billion for Mexican-currency-exchange houses from 2004 to 2007,” reports Bloomberg writer Michael Smith.

USA and Europe’s biggest banks and financial institutions are handling money from the Mexican drug cartels which export hundreds of tons of cocaine, heroin, marijuana and methamphetamines into the US, in a business generating US$39 billion a year.

Banks and institutions involved in handling the money include Bank of America, Wachovia Corporation (now owned by Wells Fargo & Co.), American Express Bank, Western Union, London-based HSBC Holdings Plc, and Mexican units of Banco Santander SA, Citigroup Inc. and HSBC.

“Since 2006, more than 22,000 people have been killed in drug-related battles that have raged mostly along the 2,000-mile (3,200-kilometer) border that Mexico shares with the U.S.,” writes Smith. “In the Mexican city of Ciudad Juarez, just across the border from El Paso, Texas, 700 people had been murdered this year as of mid-June.”

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