Thousands of monks and civilians are marching through Burma’s former capital in what appears to be the biggest anti-government protest so far. Eyewitnesses said the number of people demonstrating on Monday was as high as thirty thousand. It follows Sunday’s march in Rangoon by twenty thousand monks and nuns. Events are now moving unpredictably, analysts [...]
Asia Cast For Wednesday 19th September
The case of a Chinese refugee who swallowed razor blades to prevent his deportation back to Mainland China has raised concerns over the recently signed Australia-China Extradition Treaty.The man, who has been in Australia for 10 years and in detention for the last four, had his business visa cancelled on the grounds of an arrest [...]
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 [...]
Asia Cast Monday 17th September
Investigators probing a plane crash at a Thai tourist resort say they have found the aircraft’s flight recorders. At least eighty-eight people were killed when the plane, operated by Thai budget airline One-Two-Go, skidded off a runway in heavy rain on the island of Phuket. Survivors described how the plane smashed through a wall and [...]
Asia Cast for Sunday 16th September
At least one hundred thousand people have marched in Taiwan in support of their government¡¯s plan to hold a referendum on joining the UN under the name Taiwan. The UN has rejected previous bids from the island to join the body under its official name, Republic of China. The bids anger Beijing, which sees Taiwan [...]
Asia Cast for Saturday 15th August
Frightened residents on Indonesia’s Sumatra Island huddled in tents outside their damaged homes on Friday, traumatized by the latest of more than fourty aftershocks since a huge earthquake struck two days ago.Indonesia’s meteorology agency issued on Friday the latest in a series of tsunami warnings after another strong quake in Sumatra, although it was lifted [...]
Asia Cast for Friday 14th September
The United Nations General Assembly has adopted a non-binding declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples after 22 years of debate. The document proposes protection for the human rights of the 370 million native peoples around the world, and for their land and resources. It passed despite opposition from Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the [...]
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 [...]
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, [...]
Asia Cast Tuesday 11th September
Many distinguished politicians, athletes and artists from the Czech Republic came out to Prague’s Old Town Square to support the global Human Rights Torch Relay.Martin Bursik, Vice-Premier of the Czech Republic and Minister for the Environment, carried the torch directly to the stage in the Old Town Square. There he passed the torch to Ms. [...]
