Asia Cast

Asia Cast for Friday 9th November

In this Bulletin…

- Aung San Suu Kyi to work with Burma’s military rulers;
- More Chinese toys recalled; and
- Britain poised for possible flooding.

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In a written statement, detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has said she is ready to co-operate with Burma’s military junta.

Earlier, the ruling junta announced that Ms Suu Kyi would be allowed to meet her political allies for the first time in three years.

She will meet executives of her National League for Democracy, along with a government minister, on Friday.

Ms Suu Kyi’s party won polls in 1990 but was never allowed to take power. The junta has kept her under house arrest in Burma’s main city, Rangoon, for 12 of the past 18 years.

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In the latest product scare over Chinese goods, millions of Chinese-made toys have been recalled in the US and Australia after they were found to contain a substance linked to the date-rape drug GHB.

A total of five children were taken to hospital after swallowing tiny beads known as Bindeez in Australia and Aqua Dots in the US.

The beads were coated in chemicals which transformed into a banned drug when swallowed.

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Government and environment agencies issued a warning on Thursday that large parts of Britain’s Norfolk and Kent coasts are at risk of severe flooding from a tidal surge of up to three metres that is making its way down the North Sea.

Weather experts referred to images of the major floods of 1953 that hit eastern England and the Netherlands, and said the Dutch and German coasts were again at high risk from the storm surge coupled with spring tides and low pressure.

A special COBRA Cabinet Office meeting was being held by Prime Minister Gordon Brown to coordinate the emergency response, a spokeswoman said.
The Met Office said north-westerly winds exceeding 50 mph were coinciding with low pressure and high tides to produce the exceptional conditions.

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A senior World Health Organisation official has warned that the world is at risk of a tuberculosis crisis if killer drug-resistant strains of the disease are not contained.

Mario Raviglione, director of the World Health Organisation’s Stop TB department said about ninety six percent of all TB cases are still treatable using standard drugs with 4 percent being multi-drug resistant.

The emergence of drug-resistant TB strains, coupled with a deadly co-infection of TB and HIV, has alarmed health authorities who are uniting to head off a global TB crisis.

On Thursday, hundreds of activists and TB experts attending the 38th Union World Conference on Lung Health marched through Cape Town’s city centre to draw attention to the disease, easily spread during close personal contact.

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Buddhist Monks in Tibet have been prevented from preparing for a ceremony to celebrate the Dalai Lama’s acceptance of the U.S. congressional medal spread.

Over one thousand armed policemen allegedly descended on the Drepung monastery in Lhasa interrupting preparations for celebrations and beating some of the monks.

Analysts are saying that the Chinese communist regime had been in a panic since it was announced that the Dalia Lama would be awarded the congressional medal and that Authorities had been instructed to make sure community celebrations did not take place.

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A CBC documentary about human rights abuses in China has been pulled from Canadian airwaves after the Chinese embassy put pressure on the nation’s broadcaster.

The CBC agreed to pull the documentary only one day after Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper appointed the president of the network, and a week after Mr Harper stood up to threats from the Chinese Government and met with the Dalai Lama.

CBC editors and lawyers approved the documentary in March. It aired last week in France, Canada and has also been shown in Spain, Portugal, and New Zealand, with Ireland soon to follow.

CBC said it still intends to broadcast “Beyond the Red Wall,” but so far has given no date.

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According to a study by the International Energy Agency, China is set to become the world’s largest consumer of energy by about 2010.

The World Energy Outlook report predicts that China will overtake the US in its energy use.

But the IAEA notes that the new status will come at a price, with China also on course to become the world’s largest polluter.

The Chinese authorities have repeatedly refused to act on climate change, saying that the economy must take priority and that it is pointless for the West to criticise China for its energy consumption when so much of China’s industry produces goods for Western markets.

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