Asia-Cast

Asia Cast Thursday 13th September

Rescue teams headed for Indonesia’s Sumatra coast on Thursday, as aftershocks pounded the region where a powerful earthquake killed six people and perhaps many more the night before.

Tsunami warnings were issued but later lifted for countries round the Indian Ocean after the latest aftershocks, including a shallow quake, which had a magnitude of seven point eight.

The tremors sowed fresh panic among residents in Padang, the capital of West Sumatra.

The town was thrown into chaos and many fled after the initial eight point four-magnitude quake, which the United States Geological Survey said was the most powerful in the world this year.

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A group of 21 South Koreans held hostage by Taleban militants in Afghanistan have said they were beaten and ordered at gunpoint to convert to Islam.

At a news conference in Seoul, the former captives also said they were made to work “like slaves” during their six-week ordeal.

Twenty-one members of the group were freed last month following an agreement between South Korea and the captors.

Two of the hostages – all Christian aid workers – had already been killed.

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Web service provider HiChina has forced a website using its service to delete a report about AIDS in Henan province of Mainland China

The Chinese Communist Regime¡¯s reason was that the report could cause
instability in Chinese society.

According to Free Asia Radio station, this report covered the 80¡¯s and early 90¡¯s, when people were encouraged to sell their blood.

Health experts estimated this wave of selling blood directly caused more than a hundred thousand people to be infected by the AIDS virus.

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The chairman of Mattel has apologised for safety errors, which resulted in the recall of 21 million Chinese-made toys in recent months.

Robert Eckert told a US Senate hearing that Mattel was “by no means perfect” and acknowledged its Chinese producers had not been monitored closely enough.

But he denied the firm was too slow to reveal safety concerns, saying notice of the recalls had been given speedily.

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In the Kasai province in the Democratic Republic of Congo, at least 160 people are dead following an outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus.

Health workers launched an emergency operation to fight the outbreak of the deadly haemorrhagic fever in southern Congo, airlifting supplies, setting up isolation tents and disinfecting contaminated areas.

The World Health Organisation and medical NGOs such as Medecins Sans Frontieres joined local health authorities in a major logistics operation to try to contain the outbreak in the Kasai Occidental province.

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Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been admitted to a Tokyo hospital, according to media, a day after the leader suddenly announced his resignation.

Chief Cabinet secretary Kaoru Yosano said earlier that Mr Abe was being examined by doctors and depending on the result, may be hospitalised.

Kyodo news agency said Mr Abe was feeling unwell but did not specify what the ailment was.

Mr Abe, who took office a year ago pledging to raise Japan’s global security profile, said he was quitting in the hope that a new leader could resolve a deadlock over a naval mission supporting US-led operations in Afghanistan.

But senior officials cited health problems as one reason for his decision to step down

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A member of the Greens Party in the NSW State Parliament, Ian Cohen says that interference of the Chinese delegation during the APEC press coverage in Australia is “frustrating”.

Mr Cohen issued the statement following the deliberate obstruction of one of the accredited Epoch Times journalists, as well as at least two other media, from photographing Chinese Communist Party leader Hu Jintao at the final Declaration Ceremony at Government House on Sunday, September 9.