South China Sea Dispute Blamed Partly on Depleted Fish Stocks

(Video: BONTV)

(HN, 5/16/12) - China & the Philippines have announced temporary bans on fishing in areas of the South China Sea they both claim as sovereign territory; tho every year China imposes a ban for several weeks in a northern part of the South China Sea for replenishment anyway. The move could help cool tempers after ships from the 2 sides faced off in April over Chinese fishing in the disputed Scarborough Shoal, known as Huangyan Island by China, but the Philippines & Vietnam complain it is just another way for China to assert its claims on maritime territories that they also dispute.  The South China Sea is thought to contain enormous reserves of oil & natural gas - about 80% of the same amount of Saudi Arabia - much of it in disputed areas. China claims most of the South China Sea, putting it in conflict with competing claims by Brunei, the Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Vietnam.  China's halt to fishing will go through August 1 while the Philippines did not indicate a time period for its ban. (Read more at VOA)

Best and worst places to be a global mother, Save the Children (REPORT)

(PHOTO: HeroKids)(HN, 5/9/12) - The just released State of World's Mothers 2012 report by international child rights NGO  'Save the Children' has seen India slipping 1 position down from the 75th spot of last year's report; now at 76. Afghanistan is no longer the worst place in the world for mothers; Niger is. According to the annual survey which looks at how good the life of a mother is around the globe, one out of every 140 women in India runs the risk of dying during childbirth, as compared to neighboring China where 1 in 1,500 women runs the risk of maternal death, while it is 1 in 1,100 in Sri Lanka & 1 in 180 in Myanmar. Africa's Niger is the world's worst place to be a mother because both mothers & babies face a mounting range of obstacles to survival & wellbeing due to a lack of basic medical care; poor access to contraception; child malnutrition & illness. Additionally, low primary school enrollment & extremely low economic opportunity for women, as well as deepening humanitarian crises as a result of crop failures & high food prices all contribute to the endemic issues which often impacts the most critical first 1000 days of life.  The legacy can last a lifetime. (Read more at Sydney Morning Herald)

International Day for Street Children 2012

(Video: Consortium for Street Children) 

(HN, 4/12/12) - Street child is a term for a homeless child residing primarily in the streets of a city.  The exact definition of a street child is debatable due to the lack of precise categories but the term has largely been used in reference to children who live entirely in the streets, without adult supervision or care. They are often subject to abuse, neglect, exploitation, or, in extreme cases, murder.

(PHOTO: Street child in Bangladesh/Wikipedia)They're found in a large majority of the world's cities & are more prevalent in densely populated urban hubs across the world - though not limited to India, China, Africa, & Russia, among others. According to a report from the Consortium for Street Children, a UK based organization of related NGOs, UNICEF an estimate of as high as  100 million children are growing up on city streets around the world; tho ‘The exact number of street children is impossible to quantify, it is likely that the numbers are increasing’.  (Read more at CSC)

AsiaTimes - Rare earths, the next oil

Rare earths, the next oil - Former Chinese president Deng Xiaoping recognized the importance of rare earth elements (REEs) almost 2 decades ago. "The Middle East has oil and China has rare earth," he said in 1992. His foresight was impressive.  Today, REEs are used in most high-tech products predominantly in the form of heavy-duty batteries & magnets. They are pivotal in defense technology - lasers, radars & electromagnetic weaponry - as well as green technology. It is therefore not surprising that China's near monopoly of their production has industry & government worried.  By Elliot Brennan