The Star Online: Metro: South & East

Bluefin tuna price nosedives in Tokyo
US sends envoy to Sri Lanka to discuss war crimes
Ailing Musharraf will not appear in treason court

Posted: 05 Jan 2014 08:00 AM PST

TOKYO: Sushi restaurateur Kiyoshi Kimura has paid 7.36 million yen (RM224,000) for a 230kg bluefin tuna in the year's celebratory first auction at Tokyo's Tsukiji market, just 5% of what he paid a year earlier despite signs that the species is in serious decline.

Kimura's record winning bid last year of 154.4 million yen (RM4.7mil) for a 222kg fish drew complaints that prices had soared way out of line, even for an auction that has always drawn high bids. Kimura also set the previous record of 56.4 million yen (RM1.7mil) at the 2012 auction.

The high prices do not necessarily reflect exceptionally high fish quality.

"I'm glad that the congratulatory price for this year's bid went back to being reasonable," said Kimura, whose Kiyomura Co operates the popular Sushi-Zanmai restaurant chain.

Environmentalists say growing worldwide consumption of bluefin tuna is leading to its depletion, and that those in charge of managing fisheries for the species are failing to take responsible action to protect it.

Japanese eat about 80% of all bluefin tuna caught worldwide, though demand is growing as others acquire a taste for the tender, pink and red flesh of the torpedo-shaped speedsters of the sea.

There were 1,729 tuna fish sold in yesterday's first auction for 2014, according to data from the city government, down from 2,419 last year. The 32,000 yen (RM976) per kilo paid for the top fish this year pales in comparison to the 700,000 yen (RM21,350) per kilo last year. — AP

US sends envoy to Sri Lanka to discuss war crimes

Posted: 05 Jan 2014 08:00 AM PST

COLOMBO: A top US envoy will travel to Sri Lanka to discuss allegations of war crimes ahead of a UN review of Colombo's human rights record, officials said.

US Ambassador for Global Criminal Justice Stephen Rapp will spend five days in Sri Lanka discussing rights and reconciliation following the decades-long separatist war, the US State Department said.

The visit comes as the UN Human Rights Council meets in March to discuss whether Sri Lanka has shown progress towards reining in alleged rights abuses and investigated suspected war crimes.

Sri Lanka has resisted calls to investigate allegations that up to 40,000 ethnic Tamil civilians were killed by the security forces during the final push that crushed the rebels.

UN rights chief Navi Pillay has warned Sri Lanka that it faces an international probe into the allegations if it has not shown progress by March. — AFP

Ailing Musharraf will not appear in treason court

Posted: 05 Jan 2014 08:00 AM PST

ISLAMABAD: A lawyer representing Pakistan's former military ruler Pervez Musharraf said the retired general would not make a scheduled appearance at his treason trial because of an ongoing illness.

The 70-year-old was rushed to a military hospital on Thursday after developing what a police official called a "heart problem" while being taken to hear treason charges against him at a special tribunal.

"Everyone is aware of his sickness. The whole world knows that he is in the ICU (Intensive Care Unit) and the court also knows that," lawyer Ahmed Raza Kasuri said.

"We just have to make an oral request in the court that since he is not well, his presence should be dispensed with," Kasuri said. — AFP

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

Isnin, 6 Januari 2014