Asia Minor ground squirrel over the first decade of the twenty-first century. In view of this decline the International Union for Conservation of Nature re-classified the Asia Minor ground squirrel as "Near Threatened" in the 2009 edition of the IUCN Red List; the species previously having been considered as of Least Concern. Asia Minor ground squirrels also have legal protection in the Republic of Turkey. Asia Minor ground squirrel The Asia Minor ground squirrel ("Spermophilus xanthoprymnus"), also known as Anatolian souslik, Anatolian ground squirrel, is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae. It is found in Armenia, Iran, and Turkey. The scientific name
Little League World Series (Asia-Pacific and Middle East Region) Little League World Series (Asia-Pacific and Middle East Region) The Asia–Pacific and Middle East Region is a region that competes in the Little League World Series. Asian teams first competed in the LLWS in , when Japanese teams competed in the original Pacific Region (which included Hawaii). In , Japanese teams began competing in the newly created Far East Region. In , the Little League World Series was expanded to sixteen teams, and East Asia was split into two regions – the Pacific (consisting of teams from the Pacific Islands, Indonesia, and Oceania) and Asia (consisting of teams from mainland