Word: timber
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2000-2009
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...over because of an influx of thousands of Chinese who over the past couple of years have monopolized businesses that by law should be reserved for P.N.G. nationals. In May, anti-Chinese riots convulsed cities nationwide, and several people were killed amid the looting of Chinese-owned shops. "Our timber, our minerals, everything, goes to China," says Damien Ase, founder of the nonprofit Centre for Environmental Law and Community Rights in Port Moresby. "But we get so little in return...
...most linguistically diverse region of the world, with at least 800 distinct local languages spoken by just 6.5 million people. Yet despite the tribal diversity, the nation is unified in at least one aspect: suspicion of foreign exploitation of its plentiful resources, ranging from natural gas and timber to fisheries and gold. Tensions exploded in the 1990s on the P.N.G. island of Bougainville, where concerns over the environmental and economic effects of an Anglo-Australian-run copper mine sparked a secessionist struggle that claimed 15,000 lives over the course of a decade. (The mine, one of the world...
...concerns voiced by international academics. The Australia-based Mineral Policy Institute believes that Ramu NiCo's assurances about mine-waste disposal in the Basamuk Bay not poisoning the fish-rich waters are based on "fatally flawed" data. (Other Chinese companies have been accused of importing vast amounts of illegal timber from P.N.G.'s dwindling forests, even as Beijing tries to protect its own natural bounty by cracking down on illicit logging at home.) "With other countries, we try to make foreign companies accountable by lobbying shareholders or raising public awareness in that country," says Matilda Koma, who runs an ecological...
...Honduran streets, people expressed mixed feelings about the vote. Shopkeeper Nelson Hernandez said he had liked Zelaya but now intends to cast his ballot for Porfirio "Pepe" Lobo, the center-right timber magnate who is leading the polls. "We need security in this country and I think Pepe can give us that," he said. In second place is businessman Elvin Santos, who is a member of Zelaya's Liberal Party but is a vocal critic of the ousted president. (Zelaya himself could not run even if he was in power, as presidents are restricted to one term.) Three other candidates...
...closely with a Congolese general named Bosco Ntaganda, nicknamed "The Terminator," who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes for enlisting child soldiers. Ntaganda's troops have taken control of several areas and are believed to reap about $250,000 a month in taxes on charcoal, timber and minerals, the report said. "It really does punch a hole in the argument that has been put forward by MONUC, which claimed that these military operations, while difficult and problematic, are bringing results," Anneke Van Woudenberg, a senior researcher at Human Rights Watch in London, tells TIME. " This report...