Asia-Cast

Asia Cast Wednesday 18th July

-Japan Quake Stirs Nuclear Fears, Displaces Thousands
-Brazilian Plane Crashes with 176 Aboard, and
-400 landowners threatened by Chinese Officials

In Japan¡ªOfficials at the world’s biggest nuclear power plant said on Tuesday there had been more minor radiation leaks after an earthquake in Japan that killed nine people and forced thousands from their homes.

The latest admissions by Tokyo Electric Power Co. have reignited fears about nuclear safety in a country that relies on atomic power for one-third of its electricity, but has faced repeated cover-ups of past accidents by atomic power utilities.

A small fire in a transformer at TEPCO’s nuclear power plant that occurred when the 6.8 magnitude quake struck on Monday, was extinguished a few hours later.

But NHK television said TEPCO workers had tried to douse the fire with water before fire fighters arrived and put it out with chemicals.

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A Brazilian airliner carrying 176 people crashed and burst into flames Tuesday at Brazil’s busiest airport, killing at least 200 people in the country’s second major air disaster in less than a year.

The Airbus A320 was flying into Sao Paulo from Porto Alegre in southern Brazil when it lost control on landing. It skidded off the rain-soaked runway, slamming into a gas station and cargo terminal.

Government officials said the body of one man was removed from the site. At least two other bodies had also been recovered, according to Globo News TV. Two local hospitals said they were treating at least seven people for injuries.

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The villagers of Linqu County, Shandong Province, refused to sign the government¡¯s land expropriation documents because they were not satisfied with the proposed compensation from the government for their properties.

On July 16, the government sent thousands of their officers to Linqu County and tried to force 400 landowners to sign the reconstruction plan, some villagers escaped to the other areas to avoid being threatened by officials.

Villager Mr. Wang pointed out that the officers just roughly assessed the properties, the compensation for the 200 square meter homes are not enough buy a small second-hand unit.

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In Ethiopia a court has sentenced 35 opposition politicians and activists to life in prison and denied them the right to vote or run for public office for inciting violence in an attempt to overthrow the government, a judge said Monday.

The prosecution had called for death sentences against the defendants, who included Ethiopia’s top opposition leaders and five people charged, tried and convicted in Absentia.

Another eight defendants facing similar charges were sentenced to between 18 months and 18 years in prison, said Judge Adil Ahmed, reading the sentences on behalf of the three-judge panel.

The judges declined to follow the recommendation of the prosecution to hand down the death penalty, Adil said.

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North Korea has shut down all the facilities at its main nuclear reactor, the head of the UN watchdog’s inspectors has said, just hours before a new round of disarmament talks.

The closures were part of a landmark agreement made in February that aimed at getting North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons programs.

The reactor shutdown is North Korea’s first step since 2002 towards ending its nuclear program, which culminated in an atomic bomb test last October.

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In northern China, one man has been sentenced to death and 28 others jailed for their roles in a slave labour scandal at brick factories.

The foreman of a kiln where more than 30 people were held captive was jailed for life, and an employee received the death penalty for killing a worker.

Since the scandal broke in June, more than 570 people forced into slavery in Shanxi and Henan have been freed.

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In Malaysia Conservationists and scientists are meeting to hatch a plan to save one of the world’s most critically endangered sea creatures.

Experts say there are fewer than 5,000 leatherback turtles left, but with swift action they believe that their decline can be reversed.

The creatures have fallen prey to humans who either raid their nests for eggs or who catch them in fishing nets at sea.