Asia Cast

Asia Cast For Wednesday 12th September

As the 17th Congress of the Chinese Communist Party approaches, more than 10,000 citizens wrote an open letter to Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao with regards to the establishment of a non-governmental supervising organization of politics, in order to reduce corruption and safeguard the citizens¡¯ rights.According to Radio Free Asia, without a third party monitoring, China¡¯s political corruption has became increasingly serious.

The establishment of a supervising organization could encourage to citizens to use their rights to help control political powers.

A bus carrying 30 construction workers in Heyang city, Shaanxi Province, China, slammed into a dirt mound on the roadside, killing seven people and injuring 23 others.

The bus¡¯s breaks failed, causing it to veer off a country road and cross a state highway before crashing into the dirt mound.

Four people were declared dead at the scene and three died at a local hospital.

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In Jakarta the Indonesian authorities have approved a new law banning people from giving money to buskers, beggars and hawkers.

Offenders could face up to six months in jail and $5,000 fines.

Jakarta’s outgoing Governor Sutiyoso urged residents to follow the new rules, saying they would bring order to the city of 10 million people.

But critics fear the new laws are ill thought out, with little understanding about the realities of the city’s poor.

The new law – which replaces a 19-year-old bylaw – are expected to come into force later this week.

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Former Philippines president and former Film Star Joseph Estrada has been found guilty of plundering an estimated $100 million in government funds and sentenced to life in jail.

At a court in Manila, the 70-year-old former was pronounced guilty of economic plunder while in office.

The sentence comes six years after he was ousted from office in an army-backed revolt.

Prosecutors said that Esatrada accepted bribes and skimmed off funds from government taxes during his two-and-a-half years as president.

His lawyer has indicated he will appeal the decision.

About 15,000 police have taken up positions in the city because of fears that Estrada’s supporters may launch violent protests against the verdict.

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Shinzo Abe, Japans Prime Minister has told senior ruling party officials he will step down, according to local media reports.

Mr Abe has faced growing calls for his resignation since his Liberal Democrat party lost elections to the upper house of parliament in July.

But he has so far resisted, saying he wanted to push through reforms.

On Sunday he staked his job on extending Japan’s support of the US-led mission in Afghanistan, beyond a current November deadline.

Opposition parties have vowed to delay the measure.

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A large peacekeeping operation planned for Darfur will launch soon and could, within months, improve security in the war-torn region of western Sudan, the mission’s head said.

Chief of the United Nations and African Union joint mission to Darfur, said contributing nations have already committed more than the 26,000 required troops for the force, and he expects the peacekeepers to deploy in October.

The joint mission will take over from an African Union force of 7,000 currently in Darfur, and Adada said he expected to begin operating with some 10,000 troops, including the African contingents already in place.

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Burmese Deputy Foreign Minister is due to arrive in North Korea for the first official talks between the two nations since they restored ties in April.

Minister Kyaw Thu will visit Pyongyang for four days, according to reports from Burma.

The visit is considered to be a sign of improving diplomatic relations between the two countries, which cut ties in 1983 after a bomb attack in Rangoon.

Neither country has commented openly on reports of the visit.
Both the North Korean and Burmese regimes are known to be tight-lipped about their activities.

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