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From The Asian Reporter, V21, #24 (December 19, 2011), page 2.

MANILA, The Philippines (AP) — The Philippines, the world’s largest rice importer, expects a good harvest in the next dry season and will import less in the coming year. Agriculture secretary Proceso Alcala said at least 551,155 tons will be imported next year. The government will allow private traders to import half of the total volume and farmers’ groups the remainder from Cambodia, Myanmar, or Vietnam. Alcala said the Philippines is expecting a good harvest due to a "quick turnaround" in production after recovering from two devastating typhoons this year. The National Food Authority, which buys rice abroad to cover shortages, will not make purchases in 2012. The Philippines imported 947,987 tons this year — a third of its rice imports in 2010. It purchased 2.58 million tons in a 2008 crisis that pushed world rice prices to historic highs. The Philippines normally imports about a tenth of its annual rice needs.

LUCKNOW, India (AP) — Two farmers fed up with alleged bribery demands emptied three bags filled with slithering snakes in a busy tax office in northern India, according to an official. The 40 or so snakes of different sizes and species — including at least four deadly cobras — sent clerks and villagers climbing atop tables and scurrying out the door to escape the office in Basti, about 186 miles southeast of Lucknow, said Uttar Pradesh state official Ramsukh Sharma. "Snakes started climbing up the tables and chairs," he said. "There was total chaos. Hundreds of people gathered outside the room, some of them with sticks in their hands, shouting that the snakes should be killed." No one was bitten or injured and police and forest officials captured the snakes. The farmers had been asking for tax records for their land in nearby Narharpur village, but tax officials withheld the files for weeks while allegedly demanding bribes. Sharma said their method of protest was unacceptable. The farmers were identified as Hukkul Khan and Ramkul Ram. Khan is known locally as a snake charmer.

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi says she intends to run for a parliamentary seat in upcoming by-elections in a poor district in southern Yangon, Myanmar, also known as Burma. National League for Democracy spokesman Nyan Win said Suu Kyi wanted to run in either a rural constituency or one where a majority of people live in poverty. He said the accessibility of Kawhmu constituency influenced her decision to run there. Suu Kyi’s party boycotted last year’s general election, but has decided to rejoin the electoral process after laws were amended to be more fair. Nyan Win said the party is waiting for the government to set the date for next year’s election before formalizing participation. Forty-eight seats are expected to be at stake.

MANILA, The Philippines (AP) — Philippine police have used batons and water cannons to disperse hundreds of students and workers attempting to occupy a historic bridge in Manila to dramatize discontent over poverty and inequality. Police officer Abelardo Aguilar said at least five protesters were arrested on charges of illegal assembly following the clashes near the presidential palace. Several protesters were hurt as police charged with water cannons and batons to push them away from the Mendiola bridge in downtown Manila. The students and workers affiliated with left-wing groups say they are "fed up with the rotten system" and want to camp out by the bridge in a protest similar to the "Occupy" movement in the U.S. and elsewhere.

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Officials say thousands of people from 50 countries have set two new world records by parading with more than 3,700 flaming torches in Indonesia’s capital. Organizer Yamal Hasmanan of Freedom Faithnet Global said officials from Guinness World Records presented participants with certificates for the largest torch-lit image formed by people and for the largest torch-lit parade. He said his group organized the 3,777-torch procession as a symbol of hope and prayer. The group is also holder of a Guinness record for the largest number of floating lanterns sent aloft, with 10,318 launched into the sky simultaneously in December 2009.

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s oldest person, 115-year-old Chiyono Hasegawa, has died. Hasegawa, who was born November 20, 1896, died at a facility in southern Japan on Friday, December 2. The facility where Hasegawa died confirmed her death, but declined to give further details. Japan’s oldest person is now a man, 114-year-old Jirouemon Kimura, who was born April 19, 1897. Kimura is recognized by Guinness World Records as the world’s oldest living man. Besse Cooper of Monroe, Georgia in the United States is listed by Guinness as the world’s oldest person, at 115 years old. She was born August 26, 1896.

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Vietnam’s prime minister says more than 42,000 people have been killed by bombs, mines, and ordnance left from the Vietnam War, and more continue to die 36 years after the war ended. Nguyen Tan Dung told a mine action donors’ conference that more than 62,000 others have been wounded by accidental explosions of weapons from the war. U.S. Ambassador David Shear told the conference that the United States has provided $62 million to help Vietnam deal with "this painful legacy." The U.S. Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund says more than 350,000 tons of landmines and explosives remain scattered across the country.