AsiaCast

Asia Cast for Sunday 25th November

In this Bulletin…
- Australia votes for new leadership;
- Pope Benedict inducts twenty three new cardinals; and
- Pakistan’s President Musharraf clear to contest elections.

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Australia has effectively voted in a new Prime Minister, with the Labor Party’s Kevin Rudd achieving a resounding defeat over former Prime Minister John Howard.

Mr Rudd has been voted into office with the largest majority in the House of Representatives ever enjoyed by a Labor Government, meaning he will wield tremendous power in the Parliament.

International leaders have been quick to congratulate Mr Rudd, including US President George W Bush who issued a statement congratulating Mr Rudd on his victory, and praising the leadership of John Howard, his staunch personal and political ally.

Among some of his policies Mr Rudd has vowed to immediately ratify the Kyoto agreement on climate change, bringing Australia in line with the majority of developed countries.

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Catholic Pope Benedict the Sixteenth has today inducted twenty three new cardinals in a time honoured ceremony which will bring them into the elite body that advises and elects popes.

The new “princes of the Church”, of whom five are aged eighty or older and thus ineligible to vote in a papal election, fill out the ranks of the College of Cardinals to two hundred and one, including one hundred and twenty who will choose the pope’s successor.

The new cardinals come from Italy, Argentina, the US, Germany, Poland, Spain, Ireland, Iraq, France, Senegal, India, Mexico, Brazil and Kenya.

In his homily, Benedict singled out the elevation of the head of the Roman Catholic Church in Iraq, Emmanuel II Delly, which he said reflected his wish to express his spiritual closeness and affection for the Iraqi people.

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Pakistan’s election commission has ratified the election of President Pervez Musharraf, clearing the way for him to become a civilian leader.
Rival opponents had challenged General Musharraf’s October victory arguing that the constitution banned military officers from contesting presidential elections.

Nothing now stands in the way of General Musharraf removing his military uniform and becoming the civilian leader of Pakistan.

Since he imposed a state of emergency three weeks ago, Supreme Court judges who opposed him have been sacked and legal objections to his re-election as President swept aside.

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After a second day of a Commonwealth summit in Uganda, leaders from each Commonwealth country have drawn up an “action plan” to tackle climate change that falls short of any binding agreement.

The text, released after the second day of their summit in Uganda, is designed as a strong statement ahead of next month’s UN climate talks.
But the 53-member group could not reach a consensus on binding emission cuts.

Meanwhile, India’s Kamalesh Sharma has been appointed secretary general of the Commonwealth. He replaces New Zealand’s Don McKinnon.

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As many as three hundred teachers staged a peaceful protest in front of the provincial government building in China’s Wuhan City last week.

The teachers, who came from over 15 cities to Wuhan, said they were angry about getting paid late, and sometimes with less salary than their contracts promised, and were appealing for a salary raise and educational welfare improvements.

Despite being forcibly broken up and detained by local police, the teachers say that they will continue to protest–and in greater numbers.

Teachers have officially joined the ranks of a growing list of protesting populations in China. And, like, other groups who appeal, they have been suppressed, intimidated, arrested, and abused.

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Since the completion of China’s enormous Three Gorges Dam in 2003 many local districts, country towns and hundreds of ancient cultural heritage sites have been submerged under the dam water.

It has been estimated that approximately 1.4 million residents of the area have been left homeless with many others losing their houses to landslides and environmental problems caused by the dam.

Experts are saying that the scale and severity of problems have already exceeded the projected expectations and the environmental issues and complications caused by the dam will, unless rectified continue to jeopardise thousands of lives and livelihoods, not to mention the threat of irreversible environmental damage.

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