Asia-Cast

Asia Cast for Tuesday 1st January

DEAR SOH LISTENERS:
To give our wonderful SOH volunteer staff a well-deserved break, only the written script for Asia Cast will be provided on 1st of January 2008.

In this Bulletin…

- Billions celebrate the New Year;
- Kenya spirals into chaos; and
- North Korea fails to meet nuclear deadline.

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Last night saw billions of people around the world rein in a new year and bid farewell to 2007.

Global landmarks such as Sydney’s harbour bridge, Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate, the Champs Elysees in Paris, and New York’s Time Square were the stage for mass celebrations.

However, bomb attacks and security fears quickly darkened New Year festivities for some with bombs killing one in Thailand, and police in a number of countries preventing mass gatherings for fears they would either incite riots or create a target for terrorist activities.

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Over the last 2 days Africa and the world has watched with dismay as Kenya, a usually stable country, slipped further in post-election chaos.
Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki was sworn in on Sunday shortly after being declared winner of Thursday’s election, which his main challenger Raila Odinga says was rigged.

The riots and bloodshed that followed were a complete contrast to the optimism that greeted Kibaki’s election five years ago which ended nearly four decades of single-party dominance.

The African Union expressed concern over the violence that has killed more than 100 people, and called for calm as the country spirals further into chaos.

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A joint United Nations-African Union force took charge of peacekeeping in Darfur yesterday, in an effort to end almost five years of war in the western Sudanese region.

It is intended that the force will eventually comprise 20,000 soldiers and 6,000 police, but numbers are currently only about a third of those levels.

Experts say the change was unlikely to bring much immediate change for the residents of Darfur where an estimated 200,000 people have died.

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According to a report released yesterday by the Elman Peace and Human Rights Organisation conflict in Somalia killed 6,501 civilians in the capital Mogadishu in 2007 and wounded 8,516 more.

The organisation also said it had recorded 1.5 million people uprooted from homes in the city during a year that began with the toppling of an Islamist movement, spawning an insurgency.

The group’s chairman, Sudan Ali Ahmed, blamed Ethiopian forces supporting the interim Somali government for many of the civilian deaths.

Residents are often caught in the crossfire as Ethiopian soldier’s battle Islamist-led guerrillas.

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As 2007 came to an end, North Korea officially failed to meet a deadline to disclose details of its nuclear programme by the end of the year.

Pyongyang had pledged to provide a detailed declaration of its nuclear activities by 31 December as part of a disarmament deal under which the struggling country was to receive large amounts of aid, but the US has confirmed it has not yet done so.

South Korea, Japan and the US have all expressed disappointment at the North’s failure to meet the deadline.

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And now for SOH original news direct from China
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Over 20,000 military officers who did not receive their demobilised allowances have appealed to Lan Zhou military region. Their actions drew support and further protests from demobilised officers all over the country.

Demobilised officer Zhao Defu from Yinchuan returned home on December 11 and was arrested on charges of illegal procession and is currently detained at Yinchuan city watch house.

Zhao’s wife says that he has been subjected to serious persecution at the watch house and is seeking assistance from the media.

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According to expert reports, the air pollution at China’s Pear River Delta region has been steadily increasing.

Meteorologists say that the contributing factors to the heavy smog are primarily an increased output of pollutants, decreased rainfall and warming winters.

According to a CNA report on December 30, the air pollution problem in Shenzhen is the most serious it has ever been, with 218 haze days recorded, an increase of 54 days compared to last year.

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We at SOH would like to take this opportunity to wish our listeners a happy and enlightening 2008.
Thank you for tuning in 2007, we look forward to sharing 2008 with you all.