Asia/Pacific Areas


 South Korea Has Obtained Rights to Oil Field Exploitation in Iraq

South Korea signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Iraq on February 25th and acquired rights to oil field exploitation in Basra in return for constructing social overhead capital.

Chinese Live on 100 Yuan a Week

A movement to live on only 100 Yuan a week has spread throughout China. Young office workers have especially felt insecure about their jobs due to the serious economic crisis and have taken part in this movement.

ASEAN Summit Adopted Cha-am Hua Hin Declaration

The Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) held a summit meeting for three days from February 27th and adopted the Cha-am Hua Hin Declaration containing many subjects on reinforcing cooperation of member states. These areas include politics, security, society and merging the economies of member states more into a system like the European Union.

Other Areas


The U.S. Increases the Rich’s Tax

The number of unemployed people of the U.S. is now over five million for the first time. President Obama said he would impose more taxes on the rich than before to decrease red-ink finance.

 France to Transport Controversial Nuclear Fuel to Japan

France has announced that it will reprocess and transport a large scale amount of nuclear fuel to Japan but environmental movement parties have protested against this plan. Greenpeace, a key international environmental activist group, insists it would be a risky and dangerous practice.

 Antarctic Iceberg Melting Faster than Expectation

Scientists who participated in the International Polar Year 2007-2008 reported that icebergs of the South Pole have been melting far faster than expected and it would cause an unprecedented rise in sea level.