Word: asia
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...increasing proximity of animals and people: zoonotic diseases, which can pass back and forth between wildlife and human beings. Several major human diseases have originated in animals, including Ebola (which began among primates in Africa) and avian influenza (which started in wild and domestic birds in Southeast Asia, but has also infected big cats...
...white- and blue-collar workers alike, shifting to shorter working hours and lower pay in exchange for tacit job guarantees is suddenly a no-brainer - not just in Britain, but also in Taiwan, Iceland and a swathe of other countries in Europe and Asia. Other schemes being tried include temporary work suspensions at factories, and even work-sharing programs. Two countries stand out as having the most developed and systematic approach: Japan and Germany, which both provide government subsidies to companies who keep on workers even though there's little or no work for them to do. Both have recently...
...some parts of Asia, palliative measures to combat a sudden surge in joblessness were first tried out a decade ago, during the region's economic crisis in the late 1990s. That doesn't mean they're always popular, especially if they involve involuntary pay cuts. Several Taiwanese high-tech companies, for example, began a forced policy of unpaid leave at the end of last year, prompting hundreds of workers to protest in front of the government's Council of Labor Affairs. The council requires that employers pay at least minimum wages and sign agreements with their employees on the terms...
...give the impression that Kim Jong Il is back running his benighted country after a stroke last summer. And then there are those shown here, of Kim at an indoor swimming pool. He looks old, frail and sick. The pictures, according to diplomats and intelligence analysts in East Asia and Washington, capture reality. Kim is 68, and though it is thought he has made a reasonable recovery, he has apparently not resumed all his duties as North Korea's absolute ruler. That is focusing the minds of analysts on two related questions: Who will succeed Kim when he is gone...
...directly or through cutouts. Trade with China has plummeted, in part because of the sharp drop in prices for commodities such as zinc and iron ore, which the North exports. That has "seriously cut the incomes of any number of military officials who benefit from that trade," an East Asia intelligence source says...