Asia-Cast

Asia Cast for Tuesday 15th January

I am Erin Toirkens with Asia Cast

In this Bulletin
- Muslim separatists, kills eight Thai soldiers
- One dead, 11 feared buried in massive China landslide and
- An explosion in Kun ming City kills 5 died and injures 32

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Muslim separatist rebels have killed Eight Thai soldiers, according to an army spokesman.

The soldiers were on escort duty in Narathiwat province, which borders Malaysia, when the ambush took place.

The attack was one of the deadliest in the current conflict in the south, where separatist rebels are fighting for an Islamic state.
More than 2,700 people have died since the violence escalated in early 2004.

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South Korea’s president-elect will meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong in hope to end his reclusive neighbour’s nuclear weapons program.

Lee Myung-bak, who takes office on February 25, has pledged to take a tough line with the North, but also says he will implement a massive aid package for the impoverished state if it abandons nuclear arms.

Outgoing President Roh Moo-Hyun, criticised for giving away too much to North Korea for little in return, met the North’s leader last October for only the second summit between the two states that remain technically at war, having ended their 1950-53 conflict with a ceasefire instead of a peace treaty.

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A massive landslide at a quarry in north China has killed one person and buried up to another 11, with explosives believed trapped in the rubble, making rescue work difficult.

Xinhua news agency says the landslide occurred on Sunday (local time) at a quarry in Jixian county of Tianjin municipality and those trapped were believed to be buried deep under the rocks.

Rescuers pulled one body from the rubble and found some debris believed to be from a work shed at the site, the agency said.

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Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is visiting China in hope to improve the strained relations between the two countries.
He told the Chinese state news agency on arrival that ties between the states had acquired global significance.

Mr Singh will hold talks with President Hu Jintao, Prime Minister Wen Jiabao and China’s top legislator, Wu Bangguo.
Their discussions are expected to focus on territorial disputes and increasing bilateral trade, worth $37bn

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And now for our original SOH news direct from China
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A company near the Chi Kan Water plant, which is located in Chi Kan Town, , Guang Dong province, China, always discharges the electroplating wastewater directly, which has caused a chain of reactions, according to the Epoch Times reports on January 13

Because of bad water quality conditions, the water plant had to stop pumping water for 5 days, which has affected up to 5 thousand people.

In recent days, the related departments have assigned 6 watering carts to deal with the emergency, the residents have to queue to get the water.

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In the early morning of 13th January, a warehouse at a vitriol plant located in HaiKou country, Kunming City, exploded during the process of handling the sulfur, which resulted in the conflagration.

The fire was put out by the fire brigade and policemen on the spot.

Five people were confirmed to have died from the incident with thirty two people injured and two people missing.

According to the preliminary investigation by the Security Supervision Department, the incident was caused by the explosion of the sulfur power being unloaded during the process of fusing.

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Today marks the first of three Divine Performing Arts show will perform to audiences in Montreal and will follow on to the next leg of the tour of 60 cities worldwide.

The shows continue to enchant audiences who have gave it rave reviews on each of its nights so far in the major cities.Audience members continue to explain how they enlighten about traditional Chinese culture and to learn that truthfulness and faith are customs in China.

The spectaculars depict traditional Chinese values that have been suppressed in China over decades of communist rule and have received rave reviews from audiences of previous shows.

For show information please visit www.bestchineseshows.com

“Asia Cast… keeping you across the top headlines from Asia and the World.”