Workers demand pay hikes, equality at global `May Day' marches

(Video: OccupyLA)

(HN, 5/1/12) - In Asia, `May Day' moved beyond its roots as an international workers' holiday to a day of international protest Tuesday, with workers turning out in droves at rallies in the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Macau & Taiwan demanding hikes in pay they say has not kept up with rising consumer prices, while also calling for lower school fees & better conditions for foreign workers.

(PHOTO: Workers in Manila at May Day/IBN)Marches in Europe over government-imposed austerity measures took place, some of the largest in Spain where 1 in 4 people is out of work.  In France, Italy & Germany the latest focus of a debt nightmare that has already forced 3 Eurozone countries Greece, Ireland & Portugal to seek financial bailouts.

(PHOTO: May Day rally in Kuwait City/Kuwait Times)The group has called instead for a "Marshall Plan" stimulus program to revive EU depressed economies. Sadly in southern Pakistan an unemployed father of 6, Abdul Razzaq Ansari, 45, set himself on fire in an apparent attempt to kill himself because he was mired in poverty, said police officer Nek Mohammed. (He suffered burns on 40% of his body but survived.)

(PHOTO: May Day rally in Moscow/RTT)In Russia, approximately 100,000 people - including President Medvedev & president-elect Putin -  took part in the main march in Moscow. In the US, demonstrations, strikes & acts of civil disobedience are taking place as some of the country's most visible Occupy rallies since the fall. (HUMNEWS)

World Wildlife Fund-India captures rare Snow Leopard's in Kashmir

(PHOTO: WWF-INDIA)Conservationists have caught a pair of rare & reclusive snow leopards on camera wandering a remote, mountain region once ravaged by conflict between India & Pakistan in 1999; killing hundreds of soldiers on both sides before a cease-fire was established with US mediation.  Infrared camera traps set up months ago by World Wildlife Fund-India filmed the adult snow leopards in Kargil district just a few kilometres from the heavily militarised Line of Control that runs through the disputed territory of Kashmir.

(PHOTO: Kargil town, India, Kashmir region/Wikipedia) WWF-India says it's the 2nd photo sighting of endangered snow leopards in Kargil, after 1 was photographed hunting a herd of Asiatic Ibex in 2009.  Snow leopards are thought to be the most endangered of big cats, facing threats from poaching & habitat loss. It's believed there are between 4,000 & 6,500 left in the wild in the Himalayan regions of Afghanistan, Bhutan, Siberia, Mongolia, Pakistan & India. The recent sighting has encouraged environmentalists as it suggests the big cats were not scared away from the Kargil mountains by the war.  (Read More at The Indian Express)