AsiaCast

Asia Cast for Tuesday 18th September

The Human Rights Torch, which was lit in Athens on the ninth of August, arrived today in Slovakia’s capital.In the official ceremony, the first speaker, vice-chancellor of the Comenius University in Bratislava, Peter Osusky, compared the forthcoming Olympic Games in China with those of Berlin in 1936, “which also served as a camouflage for the regime, which showed [itself to be] one of the worst ever.”

After support statements were read from various well-known Slovakian figures, the runners started out with the Torch on their ten kilometre long run to the memorial of the victims of Communism, called the “Gates of Freedom”.

After the short speech denouncing the crimes of Communism, the torch was passed to the representative of Switzerland, which is the next of the thirty-seven countries where the Relay will go.

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According to the information released on Saturday September the fifteenth by China’s Ministry of Agriculture, a suspected bird flu outbreak among ducks occurred in Guangdong Province.

According to the notice, ducks began dying September the fifth in a farm in Fanyu District, Guangdong Province, and as of September the thirteenth, a total nine-thousand eight-hundred and thirty ducks had been euthanized in one week.

On September the fourteenth, The Animal Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Center in Guangdong concluded the virus could be a H5N1 subtype bird flu virus. A sample has been sent to the National Bird Flu Reference Laboratory for further confirmation.

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Doctor Jason Liu, M.D., director of the Mind-Body Science Institute in California, talked about the benefits of the first International Chinese Vocal Competition to be held by New Tang Dynasty Television (NTDTV) in New York in October 2007.

Doctor Liu believes music and songs that express pure truth, pure goodness, and pure beauty are capable of redressing the heart and repelling diseases, playing a role not to be replaced by medicine.

Dr. Liu explains that the competition will not only offer a platform for professionals to share their experience in their trade and help spread the traditional arts, but also provide right directions for various aspects of human society, including the health and well-being of humankind.

Dr. Liu is well trained in both medicine and music. He treats and hypnotizes his patients with music and, at the same time, composes therapeutic music himself.

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On the night of the fourteenth of September, Ms Huang Yan, a Christian from a Christian family church in Beijing, successfully entered lawyer Gao Zhisheng¡¯s home that has been under monitoring.

She had seen Lawyer Gao¡¯s family and the lawyer commissioned her to publish the article that had been banned by the police since July this year.

According to Radio ¡°Freedom Asia¡±, the title of the article is “The power of the police becomes triad like in day-to-day and universal.”

Gao said that the authorities did not process passports for Genghe, Gege and Tianyu. He wants this matter to be publicized.

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The Chinese Foreign Journalists Club based in Beijing said they are concerned about the lack of transparency and the legal procedures in the trial of the New York Times assistant Zhao, and urged Beijing authorities to resume all the legitimate rights to Zhao Yan.

According to the ¡°Voice of America¡± on September the sixteenth, the Chinese Foreign journalists Club said in a statement that many foreign journalists are concerned with Zhao Yan¡¯s sentence, questioning the commitment of China¡¯s promise to open up the media before the Olympics.

At the same time, New York Times Executive Editor Keller said Zhao Yan is an honest, hard-working journalist; the only crime he committed was working in journalism.

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According to insiders, after the Shandong Huayuan mining accident in early September at the Shandong Xinwen Mining Group’s coal mine, a roof fall accident happened killing four people.

Soon afterwards Liang Group coal mine also had a roof fall accident, the number of casualties is unknown. According to ¡°Watch China¡± reports, the authorities tightly block the news of the Huayuan mine incident.

A large number of plainclothes agents patrol the area and the miners don¡¯t mention a word about the accident from fear of being charged and arrested of “misleading and undermining social stability.”