New York, May 14, 2007?The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned that new legislation in Thailand will further weaken press freedom guarantees. On Thursday, the military-appointed National Legislative Assembly (NLA) passed legislation granting the government the power to censor critical online news reports.
New York, May 15, 2007?Broadcast news outlets in Thailand have been heavily censored by the military junta that took power in September 2006, the Committee to Protect Journalists has found in a new report, ?Thailand at a Crossroads.?
By Marietta Baste-Hernani
davaotoday.com
BUHANGIN, Davao City — As with other areas around the city, the missing names of voters was also a common complaint today at the Buhangin Elementary School and at the Dumanlas Elementary Schools, all in the second district.
In the 2004 elections, Jane Brave, 50, her husband Benedicto and their daughter Jenny were able to vote. But in today?s elections, only Benedicto?s name was on the voters? list at Precinct 1598-A.
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TOKYO, JAPAN – Critical reform measures need to be taken soon before the impact of ageing populations takes its toll in developing countries in Asia, the Asian Development Bank Institute?s Dean, Masahiro Kawai, said during a recent seminar on ageing in Asia.
?For far too long we have tended to focus on high-income economies in the region like Japan, and the newly-industrialized economies — Republic of Korea; Hong Kong, China; Taipei,China; and Singapore — that are far advanced in the ageing curve,? said Mr. Kawai. ?But many of the middle-income developing countries and a few low-income developing countries in the region are on the same demographic path.?
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MANILA — Whether it was a family from the posh Corinthian Gardens or urban poor residents of Tondo, Manila, the complaints were the same according to election watchdog Kontra Daya.
Many voters were disenfranchised on election day, the watchdog group said based on reports it received from the field. One voter from Corinthian Gardens complained that her name was ?deactivated? from the voter?s list because she allegedly did not vote in the previous two elections, a claim she disputed. A militant urban poor leader from Tondo was made to wait for four hours to vote after her name was found in a different polling precinct far from her barangay. Another family was instructed by the Comelec to go to a new polling precinct only to find out that the school was empty.
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