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Ingredients: 2 pounds bacon burger (1½ pounds beef with ½ pound bacon - should grind twice) 1 egg Onion to taste ½ cup cracker crumbs 1/4 cup milk - as...
Ingredients: 1 to 2 pounds sausage ½ to ¾ cup hash browns ½ cup Cheddar cheese small dice or grate Onion to taste, optional 1 to 2 eggs ¼ to...
Retired Col., Nelson donates check to Northern Hills
City waiting for transfer of property
Half-billion dollar proposal heads to Governor Walker
Changes stem from death at Tomah VA
La Crosse
For many people, being able to take a paid sick day is something they take for granted. But for many others, it is not even an option. More than one...
The National Republican Party is keeping a close eye on next week's recall election here in Wisconsin. In a call with reporters today, RNC Director, Reince Priebus, said they are 100% behind Scott Walker.
Priebus said the recall election will also play very favorable for them with the presidential election in November if Walker defeats challenger, Tom Barrett.
The Struck-Klandrud Post 336, Onalaska American Legion will host a fundraiser for the Freedom Honor Flight on June 9th. Onalaska Toursim Director, Jean Lunde, says the evening is the Onalaska Night for Freedom Honor Flight.
All proceeds will be presented to the Freedom Honor Flight in support of our veteran's trip to Washington D.C. to visit the memorials placed in their honor. In 2011 over $13,000 was donated from this event.
A Monroe County man has life threatening injuries after a tree fell on him last night. Just before 6:30 last night, 59 year old Gary Everts, of rural Camp Douglas, was cutting down a tree when it fell and twisted. The tree fell in the same direction Everts had run to get away. The tree hit him in the middle of the back and pinned him. Everts was transported to Tomah Memorial hospital and later transferred to Gundersen Lutheran hospital by Med Link Air with life threatening injuries. The accident remains under investigation by the Monroe County Sheriff's Department.
A couple of high level employees have been placed on administrative leave at La Crosse city hall. We're told city prosecutor Pete Kisken and Community Development Administrator Lianna Escott have been placed on leave. We're told both were escorted from La Crosse city hall late last week. Requests for additional information from the city attorney's office and the human resources office regarding the suspensions have gone unanswered so far. Mayor Matt Harter and city council president Audrey Kader have also both declined to comment on the apparent discipline.
A child who apparently drowned in a Goodview lake on Memorial Day is identified as a 5-year-old girl from Arcadia. Her name has not been released yet. The girl was found in Lake Goodview around 7 o'clock Monday night, after being reported missing in a park. She was pronounced dead at a hospital in Winona.
It wasn't much heroin that La Crosse police found in a van during a traffic stop. But it was enough to charge a couple guys in the van with dealing. 52 year-old Darnell Hamilton and 46 year-old Dennis Mickelson, both from La Crosse, have been charged with heroin dealing. Cops say they got suspicious when they pulled the van over and the two guys started getting fidgety. They say Ralph the drug dog sniffed out the van and hit in several spots. Lots of hidden compartments in the van, say police. But they didn't have to look far to find two baggies of heroin and a bag of crack. Those were just sitting on the floor in the front.
This summer's big road project in the city of La Crosse will happen on Losey Boulevard...
Speaking on WIZM's La Crosse Talk, ity traffic engineer Matt Gallager said several blocks of Losey need surface repairs this summer. The first phase of the project will begin next week, and will last about six weeks. The work will extend from La Crosse Street south to Market Street. Gallager expects the repair job to last 10 to 15 years.
6 teachers are being laid off in the La Crosse School District, effective this fall. Human Resources Director, Steve Salerno, says in talking with the teachers, they were well aware of the financial position the district is in.
Educators laid off include a teacher at Longfellow Middle School and the other 4 are from Logan High School.


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US: New Jersey could be close to overturning Governor's veto on equal marriage bill
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Send Christie back to Ronald Regan's 1985, where he belongs.
It is lovely to hear that some republican legislators have changed their position on gay marriage. This i so respect that they have listened, argued with themselves and found a way change.
Good luck New Jersey from your British cousins. Get Christie out.
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Vice President Joe Biden was joined by Governor Andrew Cuomo Monday afternoon to announce a $4 billion upgrade to the central terminal building at LaGuardia Airport.
Updated 07:11 PM
Decades after World War II ended, one Orange County resident is finally getting the military recognition he deserves. Thomas Griffith served in Okinawa, Japan, during the war as a radio technician and he helped recover important materials on a sinking ship. Jessica Chen has more Griffith's heroic story and the ceremony to honor his service.


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Blues Singer and Songwriter Jimmy McCracklin Dies at 91
According to The New York Times, blues singer, pianist and songwriter Jimmy McCracklin died on Thursday, December 20, 2012. He was 91.
Read the original report here.
McCracklin was best known in the West Coast blues scene and for his 1950s song "The Walk", which was recorded with his band, the Blues Blasters, for Checker Records. "The Walk" has since been covered by quite a few musical artists, including the Beatles.
Aside from "The Walk", McCracklin released more than 20 albums and wrote and recorded songs such as "Think", "Just Got to Know", "Shame, Shame, Shame" and "My Answer". His song "Tramp" was never recorded but soared into popularity in the late '60s after it was recorded by Otis Redding and Carla Thomas.
McCracklin's first record, "Miss Mattie Left Me" was released in 1945. His final album, "Hey Baby", was released in 2010.
Pictured: Jimmy McCracklin in London, UK, at the 100 Club in March 1981. Photo by Lionel Decoster.
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|By Marketwired .
Article Rating:
|August 6, 2014 09:15 AM EDT
CHARLOTTE, NC -- (Marketwired) -- 08/06/14 -- Maaco, North America's Bodyshop, is joining the roster of Diamond Members of the National Auto Body Council (NABC).
In partnership with the NABC, Maaco and its more than 450 locations across North America will work to promote a positive image of the collision industry and make an impact in local communities nationwide.
"As the largest automotive paint and collision franchise, we understand the importance of giving back to the community and helping influence the perception of the industry that we serve," Jose Costa, president of Maaco.
The National Auto Body Council is a not-for-profit organization that strives to improve the image of professionals in the auto body industry through education, advocacy and charitable work. The intent of the NABC is to assure consumers they are receiving quality repairs by trusted professionals -- a message that Maaco and the NABC share. "As we work towards this goal, we're developing a clear roadmap for I-CAR Gold certification, which allows us to ensure our customers are offered the latest in collision services. I-Car has been a true partner in this development," says Costa.
Maaco's membership to the NABC will give employees and team members an opportunity to expand their community outreach and make a positive influence both locally and nationally. The NABC will provide Maaco centers a way to give back to the communities that have helped them grow.
For more information on Maaco Franchising, LLC, please feel free to contact Betsy McDonald at [email protected].
About MAACO®
Founded in 1972, MAACO® Auto Painting & Collision Repair (www.maaco.com) repairs accident damage, dents and faded paint for close to 500,000 drivers annually. The 460 franchises have restored the safety and beauty of all types of vehicles for over 40 years. MAACO Franchising, LLC., headquartered in Charlotte, NC, has been cited numerous times by Entrepreneur magazine as #1 in its category in the Annual Franchise 500 survey.
Contact Information
Betsy McDonald
[email protected]
Puppet Labs has announced the next major update to its flagship product: Puppet Enterprise 2015.2. This release includes new features providing DevOps teams with clarity, simplicity and additional management capabilities, including an all-new user interface, an interactive graph for visualizing infrastructure code, a new unified agent and broader infrastructure support.
Jul. 28, 2015 12:00 PM EDT
SYS-CON Events announced today that HPM Networks will exhibit at the 17th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on November 3–5, 2015, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. For 20 years, HPM Networks has been integrating technology solutions that solve complex business challenges. HPM Networks has designed solutions for both SMB and enterprise customers throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.
Jul. 28, 2015 11:45 AM EDT Reads: 382
SYS-CON Events announced today that Agema Systems will exhibit at the 17th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on November 3–5, 2015, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. Agema Systems is the leading provider of critical white-box rack solutions to data centers through the major integrators and value added distribution channels.
Jul. 28, 2015 11:25 AM EDT
For IoT to grow as quickly as analyst firms' project, a lot is going to fall on developers to quickly bring applications to market. But the lack of a standard development platform threatens to slow growth and make application development more time consuming and costly, much like we've seen in the mobile space. In his session at @ThingsExpo, Mike Weiner, Product Manager of the Omega DevCloud with KORE Telematics Inc., discussed the evolving requirements for developers as IoT matures and conducte...
Jul. 28, 2015 11:15 AM EDT Reads: 159
"Our biggest growth area has been the security services, the managed services - the things that differentiate us in the market that there is no client that's too small and there's no client that's too big," explained Paul Mazzucco, Chief Security Officer at TierPoint, in this SYS-CON.tv interview at 16th Cloud Expo, held June 9-11, 2015, at the Javits Center in New York City.
Jul. 28, 2015 11:15 AM EDT Reads: 313
Converging digital disruptions is creating a major sea change - Cisco calls this the Internet of Everything (IoE). IoE is the network connection of People, Process, Data and Things, fueled by Cloud, Mobile, Social, Analytics and Security, and it represents a $19Trillion value-at-stake over the next 10 years. In her keynote at @ThingsExpo, Manjula Talreja, VP of Cisco Consulting Services, discussed IoE and the enormous opportunities it provides to public and private firms alike. She will share w...
Jul. 28, 2015 11:00 AM EDT Reads: 2,022
"Alert Logic is a managed security service provider that basically deploys technologies, but we support those technologies with the people and process behind it," stated Stephen Coty, Chief Security Evangelist at Alert Logic, in this SYS-CON.tv interview at 16th Cloud Expo, held June 9-11, 2015, at the Javits Center in New York City.
Jul. 28, 2015 09:45 AM EDT Reads: 266
"We specialize in testing. DevOps is all about continuous delivery and accelerating the delivery pipeline and there is no continuous delivery without testing," noted Marc Hornbeek, Sr. Solutions Architect at Spirent Communications, in this SYS-CON.tv interview at @DevOpsSummit, held June 9-11, 2015, at the Javits Center in New York City.
Jul. 28, 2015 09:30 AM EDT Reads: 336
"ProfitBricks was founded in 2010 and we are the painless cloud - and we are also the Infrastructure as a Service 2.0 company," noted Achim Weiss, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of ProfitBricks, in this SYS-CON.tv interview at 16th Cloud Expo, held June 9-11, 2015, at the Javits Center in New York City.
Jul. 28, 2015 09:15 AM EDT Reads: 1,080
With SaaS use rampant across organizations, how can IT departments track company data and maintain security? More and more departments are commissioning their own solutions and bypassing IT. A cloud environment is amorphous and powerful, allowing you to set up solutions for all of your user needs: document sharing and collaboration, mobile access, e-mail, even industry-specific applications. In his session at 16th Cloud Expo, Shawn Mills, President and a founder of Green House Data, discussed h...
Jul. 28, 2015 09:00 AM EDT Reads: 189
"We do data integration for B2B also application to application, and we do data management and enable Big Data," explained Pat Adamiak, Vice President, Product Marketing at Liaison Technologies, in this SYS-CON.tv interview at 16th Cloud Expo, held June 9-11, 2015, at the Javits Center in New York City.
Jul. 28, 2015 08:30 AM EDT Reads: 304
The Cloud industry has moved from being more than just being able to provide infrastructure and management services on the Cloud. Enter a new era of Cloud computing where monetization's services through the Cloud are an essential piece of strategy to feed your organizations bottom-line, your revenue and Profitability. In their session at 16th Cloud Expo, Ermanno Bonifazi, CEO & Founder of Solgenia, and Ian Khan, Global Strategic Positioning & Brand Manager at Solgenia, discussed how to easily o...
Jul. 28, 2015 08:15 AM EDT Reads: 338
One of the hottest areas in cloud right now is DRaaS and related offerings. In his session at 16th Cloud Expo, Dale Levesque, Disaster Recovery Product Manager with Windstream's Cloud and Data Center Marketing team, will discuss the benefits of the cloud model, which far outweigh the traditional approach, and how enterprises need to ensure that their needs are properly being met.
Jul. 28, 2015 05:00 AM EDT Reads: 1,655
Palerra, the cloud security automation company, announced enhanced support for Amazon AWS, allowing IT security and DevOps teams to automate activity and configuration monitoring, anomaly detection, and orchestrated remediation, thereby meeting compliance mandates within complex infrastructure deployments. "Monitoring and threat detection for AWS is a non-trivial task. While Amazon's flexible environment facilitates successful DevOps implementations, it adds another layer, which can become a ...
Jul. 27, 2015 10:15 PM EDT Reads: 271
The speed of software changes in growing and large scale rapid-paced DevOps environments presents a challenge for continuous testing. Many organizations struggle to get this right. Practices that work for small scale continuous testing may not be sufficient as the requirements grow. In his session at DevOps Summit, Marc Hornbeek, Sr. Solutions Architect of DevOps continuous test solutions at Spirent Communications, explained the best practices of continuous testing at high scale, which is rele...
Jul. 27, 2015 10:00 PM EDT Reads: 1,320


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Tensions are high in the Middle East after an Israeli security guard shot and killed a Palestinian protester.
Israeli police said the guard opened fire out of self defense after he was stopped at a barricade set up by Palestinians and rocks were thrown at him.
The incident took place overnight at the Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem's Old City. The Palestinian killed was identified as Samir Serhan.
After the shooting, protesters threw stones and set cars on fire. Several were injured -- including Israeli police.
The Jerusalem Post reported up to 1,000 people joined a funeral procession in Jerusalem for Serhan overnight.
Mourners clashed with border police and set two more cars on fire. Tear gas had to be fired into the crowd to clear the streets.
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Fla. deputies laid to rest
Related: 2 Fla. deputies killed by cruiser during pursuit
By Jerome Burdi, Leon Fooksman, and Angel Streeter
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
PALM BEACH, Fla. — Deputies Donta Manuel and Jonathan Wallace got one last Sunday service as they lay in oak coffins Wednesday before thousands who got swept up in tambourine-waving, gospel-belting and dancing in the aisles.
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Game Hunters
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Poll: Most travelers not afraid to fly after crashesPoll: Most travelers not afraid to fly after crashesParagon poll finds 2/3 say recent crashes haven't made them less likely to fly
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Just Cool Cars: Making a flawless '64 Chevy ChevelleJust Cool Cars: Making a flawless '64 Chevy ChevelleThis restorer paid attention to every detail.
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Thieves take 6ft tree from Broughton-in-Furness property
/ News
THIEVES took a 6ft tree from outside a property on Church Street, Broughton-in-Furness.
The tree was in a galvanised metal container, and was stolen between June 17 and June 25.
Police said it may have taken more than one person to move the container, possibly with the use of a vehicle.
- UPDATE: Police identify teenager who died following suspected drug abuse at Kendal Calling
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- New bin collection system to be rolled out across Craven after Ingleton trial
Anyone with information is asked to contact Cumbria Police on 101 and quote log number 252.
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text:
Article first published online: 29 MAR 2011
DOI: 10.1111/j.1558-5646.2011.01269.x
© 2011 The Author(s). Evolution© 2011 The Society for the Study of Evolution.
Volume 65, Issue 7, pages 1897–1911, July 2011
Additional Information
How to Cite
Yeaman, S. and Whitlock, M. C. (2011), THE GENETIC ARCHITECTURE OF ADAPTATION UNDER MIGRATION–SELECTION BALANCE. Evolution, 65: 1897–1911. doi: 10.1111/j.1558-5646.2011.01269.x
Publication History
- Issue published online: 5 JUL 2011
- Article first published online: 29 MAR 2011
- Accepted manuscript online: 1 MAR 2011 06:34AM EST
- Received October 6, 2010, Accepted February 15, 2011
- Chromosomal inversions;
- genetic architecture;
- genomic islands of divergence;
- linkage;
- migration–selection balance;
- quantitative trait loci
Many ecologically important traits have a complex genetic basis, with the potential for mutations at many different genes to shape the phenotype. Even so, studies of local adaptation in heterogeneous environments sometimes find that just a few quantitative trait loci (QTL) of large effect can explain a large percentage of observed differences between phenotypically divergent populations. As high levels of gene flow can swamp divergence at weakly selected alleles, migration–selection–drift balance may play an important role in shaping the genetic architecture of local adaptation. Here, we use analytical approximations and individual-based simulations to explore how genetic architecture evolves when two populations connected by migration experience stabilizing selection toward different optima. In contrast to the exponential distribution of allele effect sizes expected under adaptation without migration (Orr 1998), we find that adaptation with migration tends to result in concentrated genetic architectures with fewer, larger, and more tightly linked divergent alleles. Even if many small alleles contribute to adaptation at the outset, they tend to be replaced by a few large alleles under prolonged bouts of stabilizing selection with migration. All else being equal, we also find that stronger selection can maintain linked clusters of locally adapted alleles over much greater map distances than weaker selection. The common empirical finding of QTL of large effect is shown to be expected with migration in a heterogeneous landscape, and these QTL may often be composed of several tightly linked alleles of smaller effect.


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North Korea's practice of exporting labor but keeping most of the workers' pay places that country among the world's worst offenders in human trafficking, according to the U.S. State Department's annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report issued Monday
The annual TIP report ranks 188 countries on how they handle human trafficking and assigns them one of four rankings — Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 2 Watch List and Tier 3 — based on whether they meet the minimum standards for the elimination of human trafficking, as mandated by the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA).
The minimum standards under the U.S. law include a government's prohibition of and punishment of severe forms of human trafficking, and serious and sustained efforts to eliminate such trafficking.
The six countries that RFA covers — Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, North Korea and Vietnam — were placed in the same categories as they appeared in the 2014 report, with the first four as Tier 2 Watch List nations; North Korea in Tier 3; and Vietnam in Tier 2.
Nearby Malaysia and Thailand — whose traffickers often trade in people from Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar — were placed on Tier 2 Watch List and Tier 3, respectively. A Tier 3 ranking can trigger sanctions against a given country.
As a Tier 3 country, which does not comply with the TVPA's minimum standards and is not making significant efforts to do so, North Korea was cited for its forced labor in prison camps and through the government's bilateral agreements to send its citizens to work in other nations where they are prohibited from switching jobs and must surrender most of their earnings to the state.
North Korea has imprisoned about 80,000-120,000 of its people in camps in remote areas of the country without judicial prosecutions, convictions or sentencings, the report said, while the number of workers it sends abroad is estimated to be 50,000 or more.
Most contract workers end up in neighboring Russia and China, while others are sent to Africa, Central Europe, the Middle East and Central Asia, where they forced to work in the logging, construction, mining, garment, and agriculture industries for long hours in hazardous temperatures with no pay for up to three years, the report said.
"The government did not demonstrate any efforts to address human trafficking through prosecution, protection, or prevention measures," the report said. "The government participated in human trafficking through its use of domestic forced labor camps and its provision of forced labor to foreign governments through bilateral contracts. It also failed to protect victims of trafficking when they were forcibly repatriated from China or other countries."
Watch List countries
Cambodia, China, Laos and Myanmar were listed as Tier 2 Watch List countries which don't fully comply with the TVPA but are making significant efforts to bring themselves in line with the standards. Such countries, however, have a significantly increasing number of victims of severe forms of trafficking and fail to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat human trafficking from the previous year.
Cambodians who migrate to other regional countries and the Middle East for work are subject to sex trafficking or forced labor on fishing vessels as well as in agriculture, construction, factories or domestic servitude, the report said. Thais routinely recruit Cambodian men to work on fishing boats, but then subject them to forced labor on Thai-owned vessels that operate in international waters.
China's internal migrant population of more than 236 million people has been forced to work in brick kilns, coalmines and factories, some of which operate illegally, the report said, while state-sponsored forced labor continues to be an area of significant concern in the communist country.
Chinese women and girls are typically recruited from rural areas by sex traffickers and taken to cities where they are forced into prostitution, the report said. Tibetan girls are sent to other parts of China where they are subject to forced marriage and domestic servitude.
By contrast, Lao trafficking victims are usually migrants who seek work outside the country, sometimes using brokers who charge high fees, the report said. They often end up in Thailand where they are subject to labor or sexual exploitation.
Some Myanmar citizens who leave for work abroad in Thailand, China, the Middle East, and the U.S. are subject to forced labor or sex trafficking, the report said.
In Myanmar, government officials are complicit in trafficking, it said.
Men are subjected to forced labor in the fishing, manufacturing, forestry and construction industries abroad, while women and girls are forced into the commercial sex industry, domestic servitude or working in garment factories, it said.
Some Myanmar men who work in the Thai fishing industry are subjected to debt bondage, passport confiscation, or fraudulent recruitment as well as physical abuse and years of captivity aboard boats in international waters.
The report also said the estimated 98,000 persons displaced by conflicts in Kachin and northern Shan states and roughly 146,000 displaced persons in Rakhine state are particularly vulnerable to trafficking. Some Rohingya, the Muslim ethnic minority group that lives primarily in Rakhine state, have been subject to sex trafficking there, while locals have used dubious tactics to trick men into forced labor on palm oil and rubber plantations or in jade and precious stone mines.
Tier 2 nation
Vietnam, which is classified as a Tier 2 country, was noted as a place where men, women, and children are subject to sex trafficking and forced labor within the country and abroad.
Although Vietnamese migrate abroad for work on their own or through state-owned or private labor export recruitment companies, some are forced to work in the construction, fishing, agricultural, mining, logging, and manufacturing sectors in Taiwan, Malaysia, South Korea, Laos, the United Arab Emirates and Japan, the report said.
"Vietnamese authorities continued to prosecute and convict internal and transnational sex traffickers, but did not pursue criminal prosecutions for labor traffickers exploiting victims transnationally or within Vietnam," the report said.
"The government reported an increased number of officials received anti-trafficking training; however, many officials were unable to identify and investigate labor trafficking cases, resulting in a failure to identify victims and to pursue criminal investigations in 2014," it continued. "Often, government responses to overseas workers facing debt bondage or forced labor situations were inconsistent and inadequate."
The State Department report is based on information from U.S. embassies, government officials, nongovernmental and international organizations, published reports, news articles, academic studies, research trips and information sent to the email email@example.com.
The report can be accessed at http://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/2015/index.htm.]]>
A company operating a copper mine in northern Laos' Oudomxay province is polluting the local environment and destroying the livelihoods of residents, according to villagers, who have called for officials to investigate the firm.
A resident of Sawang village, in Oudomxay's Namo district, told RFA's Lao Service that domestic firm CNP Exploration Mining and Import-Exports Company had been digging for copper in the area, ruining the local water.
"Villagers in the district are suffering because the … company mining copper is creating runoff in the water, making it dirty and muddy—villagers cannot use it," the resident said, speaking to RFA on condition of anonymity.
"No fish can be found, the company is cutting all of the big trees in the area, and erosion is destroying local stream banks," he said.
"I would like the relevant provincial officials to investigate this issue."
According to an official report detailing mine operations in Oudomxay between 2013 and 2014, provincial authorities granted CNP a 3-square-kilometer (1 square mile) concession to mine zinc in Namo.
Houmpheng Mingboupha, director general of the Oudomxay Energy and Mines Department, told RFA that there are no known deposits of copper in Namo.
"There are no copper mining operations in the district yet, but the government has allowed [CNP] to carry out a survey in the area since 2013," he said.
"The company is mining for zinc."
According to CNP's website, the company was granted a "prospecting and exploration" license for three mining projects related to copper, iron and zinc in Oudomxay province in 2004.
In 2011, CNP finished its exploration phase and signed a contract with the Lao government to build a "refinery and factory," the site says.
But a local official, who also declined to provide his name, confirmed reports that CNP was mining copper and cutting area timber, and said the firm was also operating far beyond its concession boundaries.
"The company isn't digging for zinc, but copper instead," the official said.
"Its operations are not limited 3 square kilometers, it's working an area of 40 square kilometers (15.5 square miles), and the large trees that had covered three local mountains have been cut down."
The official said CNP had begun mining in Namo in 2008 based on a four-year contract, but was continuing to operate, despite having surpassed the length of the agreement. It was unclear whether the contract had been extended.
"Normally, the concession contract would have expired … but the company has not stopped its operations," he said.
Sand and soil
Additionally, residents of Oudomxay's La district told RFA that sand and soil excavation by Chinese firm Sheng Chang since 2008 had led to dangerous levels of subsidence and water pollution in the region.
"Excavating sand and stone in La district by blasting the mountainside has led to negative impacts and soil erosion," one villager said.
According to the villager, Sheng Chang has been blasting in an area of 7 square kilometers (2.7 square miles) as part of a concession to deliver around 900 cubic meters (31,780 cubic feet) of stone and sand directly to China via a small checkpoint on the border.
No officials have been monitoring the deliveries to determine whether the company has also been sending valuable minerals to China, he added.
An official from the provincial Natural Resource and Environment Department confirmed to RFA that waterways near Sheng Chang's concession site had become inundated with silt, and that "villagers cannot use the water" because it turns red during the rainy season.
Mining sector
Mining is a key source of revenue for land-locked Laos. Copper is the most commonly mined commodity in the country, followed by iron ore and gold.
In December 2013, the Lao government announced plans to revise its mining policy "with the aim to generate more revenue from mine concession projects," according to a report by the official Vientiane Times.
The move came "after the government has learnt that Laos has collected unreasonably little from many mining projects it has previously granted concessions to investors for," the newspaper said at the time.
Amid efforts to draw profit from the extraction of its mineral resources, impoverished Laos has occasionally turned a blind eye towards mining firms that pollute the environment, according to watchdogs.
In June 2013, an environmental group told RFA that the Australian-owned Phu Kam copper and gold mine, located 100 kilometers (60 miles) northeast of the Lao capital Vientiane, had been polluting a nearby river with toxic chemicals, especially during the rainy season.
But environmental officials at the mine said that based on villagers' complaints, they had jointly monitored the water quality of the Nam Mo River with the Lao authorities and found it was within a "standard" level.
According to the environmental group, which spoke on condition of anonymity, local authorities were aware of the problem but had looked the other way.
Reported by RFA's Lao Service. Translated by Ounkeo Souksavanh. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.]]>
Salaries for civil servants in Laos remain stagnant and will not be increased during the next fiscal year largely because of corruption, despite the rising cost of living in the one-party communist nation, sources inside the country said.
Sila Viengkeo, vice minister of finance, told a press conference at the National Assembly [parliament] that civil servant salaries, which have not been increased during the current fiscal year, would not be raised next year, according to a report by the Vientiane Times on Monday.
A civil servant, who declined to be identified, told RFA's Lao Service that current salaries are not enough to cover personal expenses.
"Three meals per day cost 50,000 kip (U.S. $6.14) each, so in total they cost 1.5 million kip (U.S. $184) per month, not including other expenses, while my salary is only 1.2 million kip (U.S. $147)," he said.
As an example of the rising cost of living, he said a bowl of noodle soup now costs 25,000 kip (U.S. $3) compared to 20,000 kip (U.S. $2.45) last year.
This makes civil servants' lives more difficult because their current salaries are not enough to meet their daily expenses, he said.
"To resolve the money problems, I need to earn additional income by raising ducks and chickens in the house and growing vegetables for family consumption," the government worker said.
Some civil servants must borrow money from individuals and pay 10-percent interest to make ends meet, he said.
Lao ministries, government organizations and local authorities employed about 150,000 civil servants, or more than 2 percent of the country's population, in 2013, according to government information.
'Poorer and poorer'
But while the majority of civil servants face a financial crisis because of stagnant salaries and often delayed salary payments, those who work in tax collection and at customs agencies have avoided such woes because they receive more money than other public administration employees, sources said.
During a parliamentary session last month, a lawmaker questioned Finance Minister Lien Thikeo about why tax and customs officials were financially better off than other civil servants.
Lien, however, did not have an answer.
"It is well-known that officials in the tax and customs sectors in Laos earn extra income somehow by getting involved in corruption, so they can have big houses and luxurious cars," said a finance official in a government office, who declined to be named. "This causes money to leak from tax collection."
"Only some servants who sit in the right chairs get richer, while others become poorer and poorer," he said.
The country's tax collection system cannot meet national targets because of the corruption, and the investigation mechanisms of state audit organizations do not work as they should, sources said.
Where's the money?
During a meeting of the National Assembly on July 8, a lawmaker criticized a report issued that day by state audit organizations for its lack of content and convincing evidence about how much state money had been lost to corruption.
"When this audit report was compared to the previous one…, it was a theoretical report rather than a practical one," said Vanpheng Keonakhone, a lawmaker who represents Vientiane. "The exact amount of money lost to corruption has not been reported, so we can't see what the positives and negatives are, and which organizations are in debt and by how much."
Although the audit report specifies that customs tax exemptions for gasoline and imported vehicles are likely to rise over the next few years, it does not identify who is involved in related corruption or how many liters of gas are subject to graft, she said.
Laos has experienced a financial crisis over the last three years largely because of corrupt public sector employees who siphon off money for personal gain, depleting government coffers and resulting in delayed salary payments to public sector employees.
In 2013, the government declared a salary increase for public administration workers, but was unable to deliver because it did not have enough money.
Reported by RFA's Lao Service. Translated by Ounkeo Souksavanh. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
A court in Myanmar has sentenced 153 Chinese nationals to life in prison for illegal logging, a deputy magistrate and a defense lawyer said Wednesday, prompting Beijing to urge that Naypyidaw reconsider their case and set them free.
In addition to the 153 life sentences, the Myitkyina district court in northern Myanmar's Kachin state handed two Chinese minors 10-year sentences for the same offense, district deputy magistrate Myint Swe told RFA's Myanmar Service.
A woman who was among those given a life sentence also received an additional 15 years in prison on a drug charge, he said.
"We tried to make the sentences as fair as possible, but we had to consider the environmental point of view," Myint Swe said.
"If you look at the number of vehicles, and machinery and the equipment [they were caught with], you can imagine the amount of environmental damage they've done."
The 155 Chinese national were arrested in January by Myanmar's army in Kachin state near the border with China, along with some Myanmar citizens. Authorities also seized 436 logging trucks at the time of the arrest.
They were sentenced, after spending the last six months in detention, under a 1963 law carrying a punishment of 10 years to life in jail for anyone caught stealing or abusing public property.
According to the Associated Press, life terms are generally treated as 20 years in Myanmar's judicial system.
Defense lawyer Khin Maung told reporters after the verdict was announced that his clients were considering an appeal.
"We can appeal to the higher level—the Kachin state judiciary. And we have 60 days to make an appeal," he said.
"So if they want to, we'll do it."
Khin Maung said representatives from the Chinese Foreign Ministry attended Wednesday's open trial, as well as his client's family members and a number of journalists.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said Beijing was "highly concerned" with the verdict and had "made representations with Myanmar over the matter," according to a report by the official Xinhua news agency.
He called on Myanmar to "take every factor into account and properly handle the case," noting that Beijing had repeatedly raised the issue with Naypyidaw since the Chinese nationals were arrested in January.
Lu also asked Myanmar to "return those Chinese citizens as soon as possible," the report said.
The Chinese Embassy in Myanmar reportedly claimed its nationals had been deceived by criminals from both countries to engage in illegal logging.
Chinese demand for timber
Myanmar banned timber exports last year, but analysts say Chinese loggers often make deals with local warlords, and in some cases local Myanmar army officers, to ship timber across the border into China's Yunnan province.
In May last year, London-based independent green group the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) said that soaring Chinese demand for valuable Siamese rosewood timber is threatening the prized rainforest species with extinction in countries of the Mekong region, where illegal trade is driving corruption and weakening state governance.
From 2000-2013, some 3.5 million cubic meters (123.6 million cubic feet) of Hongmu (redwood) timber was imported by China, the only country to have a specific customs code for Hongmu species indicating the country's "global dominance of trade" in the wood, the EIA said in a report.
The Mekong region—consisting of Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Myanmar—has historically been China's supply base for Hongmu and has been most affected by the surge in demand over the past decade, EIA said, accounting for nearly half of the imports since 2000 at a value of nearly U.S. $2.4 billion.
It said that despite measures put in place by Mekong countries to prevent illegal and unsustainable logging, the value of the industry has rendered such efforts ineffective, and Siamese rosewood—a particularly rare form of Hongmu—is highly sought after by traders.
Tense relations
In January, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying responded to an editorial in the New York Times accusing China of plundering Myanmar's rosewood, wildlife, minerals and other resources, by saying Beijing "is always opposed to illegal logging, mining and trading on wildlife."
"We stay committed to cracking down on these kinds of illegal activities, preserving natural resources and safeguarding stability of border areas with our neighbors including Myanmar through strengthened cooperation," she said at the time.
Despite close political and economic ties between the two countries, large Chinese infrastructure and mining projects in northern Myanmar have drawn the concerns of residents who say they damage the environment and local livelihoods.
Clashes between ethnic rebel groups and government troops in Myanmar near the border in recent months have also sent waves of refugees into China, and an accidental bombing by the Myanmar air force inside Chinese territory added to tensions, leading to an apology from Naypyidaw.
Reported by Kyaw Myo Min and Thinn Thiri for RFA's Myanmar Service. Translated by Khet Mar. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
UPDATED at 1:04 p.m. EST on 2015-07-20
Laos and China will jointly build a bridge linking the Southeast Asian nation with northeastern Thailand as part of a U.S. $7.2 billion high-speed railway project that has been delayed by numerous setbacks for more than four years, a Lao government official said.
Officials from both sides agreed to construct the bridge over the Mekong River to link Laos with Thailand's Nong Khai province during a meeting in which they resolved to build the much-delayed rail line from Kunming in south China's Yunnan province to the Lao capital Vientiane, a high-ranking official in the Ministry of Public Works and Transport told RFA's Lao Service.
The decision was made when a Lao delegation led by Lattanamany Khounnyvong, deputy minister of public works and transport, met with a team of Chinese government officials in China on July 3-6.
"The result of the meeting between Lao and Chinese delegations in China is that both sides agreed to identify the area to link the railway to Thailand's Nong Khai province, and will build new bridge for the railway separately," he said.
Landlocked Laos expects the railway's 420-kilometer (261-mile) route through the country to lower the cost of exports and consumer goods while boosting socioeconomic development in the impoverished nation of nearly 7 million people. It is part of a longer railway that will extend southward through the Malay peninsula to Singapore.
"In addition, both sides agreed to take five years to complete construction of a 500-kilometer (310-mile) leg of the railway in China and in Laos, although they did not schedule a start date, said the official, who declined to be named.
Political and financial setbacks have delayed the Lao-China stretch of the railway. The original construction plan called for work to begin in 2011 and be completed this year, according to the state-owned Vientiane Times.
Although the official said Lao and Chinese negotiators could not agree on how to finance the project, a report on GoKunming.com earlier this month said the countries had agreed to a 40-60 split of the initial financing costs.
Laos will pay 40 percent, or U.S. $840 million, of the initial construction costs, while China will pay 60 percent, or U.S. $1.26 billion, the report said.
Chinese venture capital firms would contribute the remaining U.S. $5.1 billion, and receive substantial stakes in the railway once it has been completed, it said.
Last month, RFA reported that Laos was setting up a joint company with China to oversee the construction and financing of the project, which a transport ministry official who declined to be named said would cost under U.S. $7 billion, less than the original amount of U.S. $7.2 billion cited by both countries at the recent meeting.
'The answer is yes'
After the meeting between Lao and Chinese delegations, Lao Deputy Prime Minister Somsavat Lengsavath, who is in charge of economic affairs, told lawmakers at a parliamentary session on July 9 that the rail line would definitely be built.
"I thank all the people's representatives for their many questions," he was quoted by Lao National TV as saying. "The first [question] is if the railway will really be constructed. The answer is yes."
Somsavat also said Lao officials could not yet estimate how many passengers from Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore would use the railway once it was linked to Thailand.
"If we have it first, people will use it, and they we can say," he told lawmakers.
Following his comments, some citizens expressed concern about whether the high-cost railway project would be worthwhile for people in the country.
"It is not necessary to invest a large sum of money in the railway project," a resident of Luang Namth province where the railway begins in the northernmost region of Laos, told RFA. "Each province has many problems with roads. Why not use that money to build standard roads throughout the country, which is what people really need?"
Lao officials in charge of the railway project have yet not publicly disclosed maintenance and other costs not included in the $7.2 billion price tag.
Reported by RFA's Lao Service. Translated by Ounkeo Souksavanh. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this report incorrectly stated that Kunming was in Sichuan province instead of Yunnan province.]]>
A lack of rainfall and scorching heat is destroying the livelihoods of Lao farmers, who say their crops are dying amid an ongoing drought in the Southeast Asian region linked to the El Niño phenomenon.
The drought since May has left those in Laos who rely on agriculture to earn a living high and dry, with one rice farmer in the capital Vientiane telling RFA's Lao Service that this year's rainy season has been a total wash.
"The drought has delayed our rice production during the rainy season—the rice seedlings have dried out because there is no water," the farmer named Khampong said.
"Even though it has rained continuously over the last few days, there still isn't enough water at this point. The majority of farmers dare not plant their rice seedlings because they will die."
Khampong said that if the drought continues, he will not even bother with rice production this year "because it won't be worthwhile."
Another farmer from Vientiane named Chang told RFA that he had lost a significant amount of capital because he had no vegetables to sell at the local market.
"After all of this hot weather due to the drought, the recent rain caused my vegetables to die, because they were unable to adjust to the change in weather," he said.
According to a report by the official Vientiane Times, farmers in the northwestern Lao province of Xayaburi are being particularly hard hit during the drought.
The paper cited Agriculture and Forestry Department officials in the province as saying that more than 1,000 hectares (2,470 acres) of upland crop area has been affected, with 420 hectares (1,040 acre) reported as seriously damaged.
More than 104,000 hectares (256,990 acres) of freshly planted rice seedlings were also affected, with some 48,000 hectares (118,610 acres) in the districts of Ngeun, Xienghon, Phieng and Kaenthao sustaining notable damage, it said.
Additionally, crops such as sweet corn, sesame and job's tear fruit were affected on more than 8,000 hectares (19,770 acres) with some 3,800 hectares (9,390 acres) reported as damaged.
The report said farmers in the province only recently completed rice planting in some areas because other regions don't have enough irrigation water and they have been forced to wait for rain to do so.
It said the provincial Agriculture and Forestry Department is planning measures to limit the drought's effect and has also prepared seeds to support local farmers and replant damaged production areas, while local officials are repairing irrigation systems for rice and other crops.
Vanhdy Douangmaly, head of the Weather Forecasting and Aeronautical Meteorology Division of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, told RFA that the drought has lasted longer than previous years because of the influence of the El Niño weather pattern, which has led to heavy flooding in some parts of the world and a devastating lack of rain in others.
"The drought has taken place longer than usual, as El Niño has led to unseasonably little rain," he said.
"However, over the next two weeks, rain will cover the majority of the country, according to the forecast. It will begin raining from the south to the center of the country, though it is not expected to rain in the north."
Region affected
The lack of rainfall in Laos comes amid a wider drought affecting wider Southeast Asia, which has also forced farmers in Cambodia and Vietnam to abandon their rice paddies and seen the region's main waterway, the Mekong River, drop to extremely low levels.
Earlier this week, Sivann Botum, secretary of state for Cambodia's Ministry of Women's Affairs and a member of the National Committee for Disaster Management, told RFA that the severe drought will deepen poverty in the developing country.
One woman in Kampong Speu province in southern Cambodia said the drought has dried up many local water resources that people there rely upon, with the delay of the beginning of the rainy season, which lasts from the end of May through the first half of October.
The season provides about three-quarters of Cambodia's annual rainfall, and daily rain is common during its peak between July and September.
And in Vietnam, some are calling the drought the worst to hit the country in two decades.
The lack of rainfall has affected all five provinces in Vietnam's Central Highlands—a region that produces 60 percent of the country's coffee—devastating the livelihoods of millions of coffee farmers.
In June, eighteen months after the start of the drought, the central coastal province of Ninh Thuan declared a state of emergency for the first time in its history, becoming the first province to do so, according to the official Vietnam News Service.
And hundreds of thousands of hectares of rice fields in coastal areas in the Mekong Delta region of the country have been badly affected by the deep intrusion of seawater into rivers and canals due to the current drought, according to a recent report by the official Tuoi Tre news agency.
Despite the lack of rain, the monsoon season is due to arrive in much of Southeast Asia in coming weeks, and meteorologists have warned that sudden deluges could lead to severe flooding and landslides.
Reported by RFA's Lao Service. Translated by Ounkeo Souksavanh. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
The government of Laos has ordered the governor of Luang Prabang province to helm a central ministry as part of a reshuffle sources say is meant to shield him from criticism over a controversial land concession he recently granted to Chinese investors.
Khampheng Saysompheng has been tasked with leading the country's Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare, replacing Onechanh Thammavong, who will retire, the official Vientiane Times announced last week.
The move was among several other high-level changes approved by the National Assembly—the rubber stamp parliament of Laos—"aimed at responding to political needs and national development requirements," the report said.
But a provincial official told RFA's Lao Service that Khampheng—who is also the son-in-law of former President Khamtay Siphandone and husband of State Audit Organization president Viengthong Siphandone—had been reassigned to avoid public scorn over corruption and land mismanagement.
"The [former] governor [Khampheng] was appointed minister not for reasons of administrative development and reform, but to avoid the corruption scandals he created," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"If ordinary officials or other governors acted as Khampheng had, they would have been demoted or laid off. But Khampheng was neither sued nor punished because he is the son-in-law of the former president."
Khampheng was recently made the target of public criticism after reports surfaced on social media that the former governor had approved China's A-Cho Group Company for a land concession to develop the area surrounding the Khouangxi waterfalls in Luang Prabang, one of Laos' most famous natural landmarks.
The former governor issued the decision in April, although it was not made public at the time. The deal came to light, however, when a provincial Natural Resources and Environment Department staffer published a copy of a document related to Khampheng's decision on her Facebook account.
The mid-June posting sparked widespread public condemnation among locals who say the provincial government routinely gives away public property to domestic and foreign investors in the form of concessions which bring the population little benefit.
Chanthaphone, the Natural Resources and Environment Department staffer, was detained by authorities on June 25 for posting a "confidential document" online about the deal to develop the area, according to a local source, though she has yet to be charged with a crime.
Public land turnover
Luang Prabang, an ancient capital more than 1,000 years old, was named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1995 and is the most popular Lao city for both domestic and international tourists. Since then, foreign investors have pumped money into local real estate projects after getting land concessions from the government.
But locals who oppose public property being granted to foreign and domestic companies refuse to speak out publicly because they fear retribution.
Khampheng has previously granted land concessions for public property to companies. He gave the Lao firm Sisak Construction Company concessions to the provincial club building locally known as Hongsaek, Lane Xang public park at the edge of the Provincial Airport, and the Phamsay River, which is used for boat racing.
Sources told RFA last month that the governor also gave the Lao firm Tieng Douangpaserth Construction Company a land concession for a restaurant in That Luang yard, a provincial venue used for traditional processions and key events.
A source with knowledge of the situation called Khampheng's actions as governor of Luang Prabang "unacceptable," and questioned whether he would change his ways as Minister of Labor and Social Welfare.
"It is unacceptable that the governor has created so many problems which need to be resolved," said the source, who also declined to be named.
"He used to be involved in corruption here [in Luang Prabang province], and after he is reshuffled to the new position he will corrupt things there [at the ministry] as well."
State-owned concessions
Khampeng's reassignment also comes amid concerns raised by Xiengkhouang province representative Bounpheng Mounphoxay last week at the Lao National Assembly over the loss of state-owned property and land to private entities.
According to Bounpheng, the problem stems from central and local officials using buildings and land historically designated for the government and the public to pay private firms constructing urban infrastructure projects.
"We need to keep a close watch on several properties owned by the state, as buildings in urban areas are increasingly unavailable [for public or government use] because they have been repurposed," she said last week at the Assembly.
"State property is shrinking due to poor management or having been used to pay off debt, and is unreasonably becoming private property."
A number of formerly state-owned buildings have recently been privatized in the capital Vientiane, including one housing the National Museum—which was given to Laos' Khaphaysana Construction Company—and several in the Ministry of Public Security's telecommunications campus in Sikhottabong district—which were granted as part of a concession to a Vietnamese firm.
Similarly, the formerly public Fountain Circle in downtown Vientiane has been turned over to a group of local businessmen who intend to build a restaurant in the space, while the area surrounding the Rasavong Hotel in the capital's Xaysetha district, which was previously under the control of the National Defence Ministry, was handed to a Chinese investor, according to a source in the military.
The parcels were doled out by former mayor of Vientiane Soukan Maharath and Lieutenant General Douangchai Phichith, respectively—both of whom perished in a May 2014 plane crash.
Reported by RFA's Lao Service. Translated by Ounkeo Souksavanh. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
A severe drought is affecting many people in provinces across Cambodia and has prompted the government to warn that it will deepen poverty in the developing country.
Sivann Botum, secretary of state for the Ministry of Women's Affairs and a member of the National Committee for Disaster Management, said women and children are being seriously affected by climate change in Cambodia, especially droughts and floods.
"For many generations, women have been responsible for finding wood and water to supply their families," she told RFA's Khmer Service.
She also said many children have fallen ill because of the current drought.
"During the drought, it's hot, so children get diarrhea," she said.
Sivann Botum went on to say that the drought is exacerbating poverty in the country, although the government is trying to tackle this issue.
"The government is encouraging ministries to work on agriculture improvements because we have realized that women are facing many difficulties," she said.
The government has not released any figures on the extent to which the drought has affected the populace.
The Ministry of Women's Affairs is training women to adapt to climate change to help them better withstand droughts, Sivann Botum said.
"We want them to understand how to reduce risks; for example, how to adapt when the temperature gets hot," she said.
Water sources have dried up
One woman in Kampong Speu province in southern Cambodia said the drought has dried up many local water resources that people there rely upon, with the delay of the beginning of the rainy season, which lasts from the end of May through the first half of October.
The season provides about three-quarters of Cambodia's annual rainfall, and daily rain is common during its peak between July and September.
The woman, who declined to give her name, said the lack of water has increased her burdens as a homemaker because she has to walk a farther than usual to obtain water.
"Many water resources have already dried up even during this rainy season," she said. "It's hard for me to have to fetch water."
Sam Chhoy who lives in Stoung district of Kampong Thom province in the center of the country said her community has suffered from droughts for the last three years. And this year, the province's reservoir has dried up.
She said she now must buy water for daily consumption and cannot plant any vegetables for food. She spends 25,000 riel (U.S. $6.09) on each container, although her husband only makes 20,000 riel (U.S. $4.87) a day.
"All the vegetables have died, and even my cows don't have water to drink," she said.
The Ministry of Water Resources issued a notice in May, saying that heavy rain was not expected to begin until July.
No water to plant rice
Farmers in central Cambodia's Kompong Chhnang province also said they do not have enough water to begin planting rice during this year's rainy season.
Each farming community consists of 15 families which are dependent upon rain water for growing rice.
One local farmer named Meas Soeurk said his colleagues' plans to increase their yields this season have been scuttled by the water shortage.
Normally by mid-July, farmers have nearly completed their planting, but this year there is little water, he said.
"I have requested that the government study the situation to see if it can build a reservoir or irrigation system," Meas Soeurk said.
But Heng Kim Sreang, the agriculture director of Kampong Chhnang province, said it is beyond her department to help farmers obtain enough water to plant rice.
Because many fields lie on higher land, they are difficult to get water to, she said. And so far, no other farmers have volunteered to allow their plantations to be used as a reservoir.
Parts of Vietnam, Laos and Thailand also are experiencing a severe lack of rain and higher-than-normal temperatures that have resulted in lower rice production than usual because of the El Niño effect in which changes in weather patterns can produce droughts and floods in the Mekong region.
Reported by So Chivi for RFA's Khmer Service. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
A severe lack of rain and higher-than-normal temperatures in parts of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia have caused some farmers to leave their fields and rice paddies unplanted, sources inside the developing Southeast Asian countries said.
Farmers in Ha Tinh province in central Vietnam have been forced to leave their fields unplanted because of the drought, said a farmer surnamed Dan from Kỳ Anh, a rural district in the province.
"We have to wait for the rain to grow the crops," he told RFA's Vietnamese Service. "Normally, the main crop grows around May in the spring, but because there is no rain, we have had to leave the fields empty."
Dan said the situation has been exacerbated by the rapid growth of manufacturing that has harmed the environment. He also accused some Chinese companies of blocking water from reaching farmers in the area.
A summer wind from the West has elevated temperatures in Ha Tinh province.
Another Ha Tinh resident surnamed Vien said the drought has caused many trees to die and left fields devoid of growth.
He said he feared that the higher-than-usual temperatures in the province would yield bigger floods this year.
The El Niño effect
In Laos, the drought has resulted in lower rice production than usual because of the El Niño effect, people familiar with the situation said.
Warmer-than-average temperatures in the Pacific Ocean cause the El Niño effect in which changes in weather patterns can lead to droughts in the Mekong region.
"Normally in June the rice begins to sprout, but this year June passed, and many farmers still have not be able to grow any rice," said a farmer in the capital Vientiane who declined to give his name. "They are waiting for the rain, but if it does not rain, they will not be able to produce rice this season."
The Meteorology Department of the country's Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment issued a notice on July 3 that it did not expect the usual amount of rain to fall throughout Laos this summer as it had during rainy seasons in previous years.
An agriculture official who works in Luang Namtha province in northern Laos told RFA that since the drought began a few months ago, farmers who are dependent on rain water have not had enough water to irrigate their crops and begin growing rice.
The water level in the Mekong River has dropped so low that sand islands have appeared in the middle of it and caused a water supply crisis in Vientiane, he said.
"The water level in the river is at a crisis point, and we have to closely work with villagers to make sure they will take turns using water without any conflicts," he said. "It is expected this year that rice production will not achieve the goal of 4 million tons because of the drought."
RFA contacted the Irrigation and Cultivation Department at the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, but no one had any information about the extent of the drought.
Cambodia's rice belt
The drought has hit farmers hard in central and western Cambodia's rice belt area — especially in Kampong Chhnang province — preventing them from cultivating their crops, sources there said.
As they struggle with sparse rain, the farmers worry that heavier rains, forecast to begin this week, could cause violent floods, according to a report in the Khmer Times.
But Chan Yutha, spokesperson of Cambodia's Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology, told The Phnom Penh Post on Wednesday that a dry spell caused by the El Niño effect would not have the same impact on the start of rice planting this year, and that rainfall would last until September.
Neighboring Thailand is also experiencing a severe drought that has threatened to reduce its rice production this year.
Reported by RFA's Vietnamese, Lao and Khmer services. Translated by Ninh Pham of the Vietnamese Service and Ounkeo Souksavanh of the Lao Service. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
Authorities in Laos have formally charged a young woman who has been detained since May after a photo she took was posted on Facebook, allegedly showing police officers extorting money from her brother during a stop for a traffic violation, according to an official source.
Phout Mitane, a 26-year-old resident of Xayaburi province, will be charged with "slander" and faces up to 18 months of jail time if convicted, a high-ranking official from the ruling Communist Party's central committee told RFA's Lao Service, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"Those who fabricate stories to slander the authorities are considered criminal offenders who must undergo reeducation and may be jailed for six to 18 months," the official said.
The official declined to respond to recent criticism from international human rights groups who have pressured Lao authorities to release Phout, saying he had not read statements outlining their concerns with her case.
The fate of the young woman depends on a decision by the provincial court at the end of her ongoing trial, he said.
Phout, from Nabouam village in Xayaburi's Phieng district, was taken into custody without an arrest warrant by local police officers on May 21.
She had taken a photo of police allegedly extorting money from her brother as she sat in his truck on May 11, and sent them to a Facebook friend who later posted them on the website, prompting a storm of criticism from other users who criticized the officers for abuse of power and corruption.
It was unclear if Phout has appeared in court, or how her case was unfolding, as the local prosecutor has withheld information about the trial and she has not had access to a lawyer, according to a source close to her family.
However, the source told RFA that Phout's family had been contacted by police about posting bail for her.
"One of the Xayaburi provincial policemen contacted her family to post bail for her at a cost of 50 million kip (U.S. $6,175), but her family refused," said the source, who also declined to provide the names of the officers.
Last month, RFA spoke with the Xayaburi police officer in charge of Phout's case, but he declined to provide any information, saying only that "she would not have been arrested if she had not committed a crime."
'Shocking' case
Phout's detention has been slammed by rights groups, including New York-based Human Rights Watch, which recently called her case "shocking" and demanded her immediate release.
Phil Robertson, deputy director of the group's Asia Division, told RFA that "nothing [she] did should have been considered a crime," expressing shock that "the police are using broad restrictions on free expression to cover up their own crimes, which is extorting bribes from ordinary Lao people."
"The fact that the government is defending such behavior shows how rights repressing and morally bankrupt the Lao government has become," he said.
"It's no wonder then that the Lao government uses threats of imprisonment to force the people to remain silent—because if they were able to speak without retaliation, I expect there would be a wave of criticism that would be intense and sustained about the fundamental failures of the Lao government to provide for their people and protect their rights."
Robertson said the government "is afraid of the Internet" and how it allows ordinary citizens to share information and raise concerns about the abuse of power.
"It's time for international donors to Laos to say enough is enough, and demand an end to the systematic abuses of human rights in Laos, starting with calling for an end to persecution of [Phout] and other people like her," he said.
Social media targeted
Use of social media in Laos has surged in recent years, with an increasing number of people looking to the internet to find news and information they do not have access to in state-run media.
In September last year, Lao Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong signed Decree No. 327 into law, prohibiting online criticism of the government and the ruling communist party, and setting out stiff penalties for netizens and Internet service providers who violate controls.
Under the decree, which took effect on Oct. 1, netizens face criminal charges for publishing "untrue information" about policies of the ruling Lao People's Revolutionary Party or the Lao government for the purpose of "undermining … the country."
Reported by RFA's Lao Service. Translated by Ounkeo Souksavanh. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.


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The hilarious George Lopez tells us about his new movie, "Spare Parts," his dating life, the different classes in Hollywood and the shocking thing that happened to him while staying at a NYC hotel.
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Kernel Korner - Linux as an Ethernet Bridge
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Resources for this article: /article/8261.
Jim Robinson is President of Linux Solutions Provider, Inc., a consulting company based in Macon, Georgia. He enjoys being a husband and a dad, playing guitar and, of course, using Linux.
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Jun Matsui, Masaya Mitsuishi, Atsushi Aoki and Tokuji Miyashita Optical Logic Operation Based on Polymer Langmuir–Blodgett-Film Assembly Angewandte Chemie International Edition 42
Article first published online: 21 MAY 2003 | DOI: 10.1002/anie.200250767
Many ANDs make light work: A novel optical AND logic gate based on an assembly of polymer Langmuir–Blodgett (LB) films is proposed. The device is composed of four polymer LB layers, which contain phenanthrene, anthracene, electron-donor, and electron-acceptor polymers (see scheme). In this optical logic device, the input signals are photoirradiation with the wavelengths for excitation of phenanthrene (λ1=300 nm) and anthracene (λ2=380 nm), and the output is the photocurrent.
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Monday, Aug. 03
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Iranian ship flees detention in Sri Lanka
Jan. 17, 2013 7:50 P.M. (Updated: Jan. 18, 2013 2:11 P.M.)
By Shihar Aneez and Jonathan Saul
COLOMBO/LONDON (Reuters) -- An Iranian-flagged cargo ship has fled Sri Lanka's waters after weeks of detention by its navy, acting on a court order obtained by Germany's DVB Bank, officials and a lawyer acting for the bank said on Thursday.
The Sri Lankan navy last week fired warning shots to prevent the MV Amina from leaving but said that late on Wednesday the vessel made its departure in rough seas.
"If the ship is beyond 12 nautical miles from our shores, then we can't do anything according to UN laws, unless the ship has committed crimes in our country," Sri Lankan Navy spokesman Kosala Warnakulasuriya said.
"We tried to communicate and asked her to stop, but without responding to anything, she had gone."
This bank's attempt to seize ships to settle claims of millions of dollars in unpaid debts shows the growing difficulties facing Iran's fleet, which the Islamic Republic relies on for trade.
"The Iranians are having an increasingly hard time, especially with their oil revenues hit by sanctions," a ship industry source said. "Their fleet will face more heat, with the US increasingly watching their every move."
Western sanctions have cut Iran's oil revenues by half in the last year and battered the economy as the rial has crashed in value. They aim to starve Tehran of funds that might be channeled into expensive nuclear weapons programs, but Iran says its atomic work is for peaceful purposes.
"The ship Amina has broken the arrest; that is a very unusual move," a DVB Bank spokeswoman said. "DVB is in talks with IRISL to find out how to further proceed now."
More seizures
The Amina is managed by Tehran-based Rahbaran Omid Darya Ship Management, which the European Union and United States have said is a front for Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL), Iran's biggest cargo carrier.
IRISL has faced Western sanctions for years based on accusations of transporting weapons, a charge it denies.
The DVB spokeswoman said the bank was seeking to seize two more Iranian ships after obtaining an order from a Singapore court.
"The bank is trying to recoup as much as they can. I would imagine the repayment process will be complex," a second ship industry source said.
IRISL officials told Reuters earlier on Thursday the ship was owned by a private company and that they could not discuss the matter. Rahbaran Omid Darya Ship Management could not be immediately reached for comment on Thursday.
The Amina was seized in December after DVB Bank obtained an order on Dec. 12 from the Colombo High Court to hold the vessel. Court documents showed that DVB Bank sought to recover millions of dollars.
"It has broken arrest and now it's a rogue ship and it has gone to Indian waters," said a lawyer for Neelakandan & Neelakandan, a Colombo-based legal firm acting for DVB Bank, who declined to be named.
The second shipping source said, "The Amina's escape just shows the pressure the Iranians are under at the moment. It's also desperation given the risks to the crew."
Foreign companies have cut ties with Iran's shipping sector for fear of losing lucrative US business. A ban on EU ship insurance provision and the exit of certifiers from Iran - vital for access to ports - have added to woes for Iranian ship firms.
It was not possible to immediately confirm the exact location of the ship. Tracking data last showed it sailing away from Sri Lanka into the Laccadive Sea, a waterway bordering India.
"We have alerted the nearest coast guard vessel. Efforts to track it are on," Jacob Thomas, director of ports in the Indian state of Kerala, told Reuters.
An arrest occurs when a ship is detained by a court order to secure a maritime claim. The arrest may ultimately result in a judicial sale of the ship to pay the claim.
IRISL has tried to dodge sanctions by changing its flags and setting up front companies, the U.S. Treasury and the EU have said. Last year IRISL Managing Director Mohammad Hussein Dajmar said that if pressure from Western sanctions continued, the group would face increasingly grave financial problems.
Sri Lankan officials said there were 24 crew members on the ship, including eight Indians who were returned to their home country after the arrest. Iranian crew members were left aboard and a shipping agent provided them with food and other supplies.
An Iranian official in Colombo said the embassy was not aware of any ship being held by Sri Lankan authorities.
When asked about the ship, Sri Lanka government spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said he had no knowledge about it. Both could not be reached later on Thursday for further comment.
It was not clear what cargo the Amina was carrying. Vessels of its size typically carry 60,000 to 70,000 tonne cargoes including grains.
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