Asia Cast for Wednesday 23rd January
In this bulletin ….
-Bird Flu still a Threat
-Palestinians Blow up Border Wall and
-Heath Ledger found dead in U.S
Experts and officials have said that the world cannot afford to be complacent about the H5N1 bird flu virus, despite its failure to trigger a human pandemic four years after sweeping across most of Asia.
The latest outbreaks in India underscored the need for constant vigilance against a virus entrenched in birds in parts of Asia, Africa and the Middle east.
The virus has killed millions of chickens and ducks and despite the slaughter of millions more and vaccination campaigns, the disease remains endemic in many poultry populations.
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Palestinian gunmen blew up a section of the border wall between the Gaza Strip and Egypt on Wednesday, allowing tens of thousands of Palestinians to cross freely into Egypt.
Residents of the southern Gaza town of Rafah said a series of explosions overnight demolished about 200 metres of the border wall.
Egyptian riot police sent to reinforce the border mainly stood aside and let the Palestinians through.
Tens of thousands of Palestinians crossed into Egyptian territory, some on donkey carts and carrying luggage to bring consumer goods and fuel back into the coastal territory.
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Hollywood actor Heath Ledger was found dead in his Manhattan home on Tuesday.
Police are reportedly investigating if the Australian actor died of an overdose of prescription pills.
Father Kim Ledger said that the death of his 28-year-old “dearly loved son” had been “tragic” and “accidental”.
Speaking in the actor’s home town of Perth, in Western Australia, Mr. Ledger said that his son had been a “down to earth, generous, kind hearted, life-loving, unselfish individual”.
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And now for our original SOH news direct from China
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A large number of peasant workers in Shenzhen were queued up at the social security office to withdraw their insurance.
They are all withdrawing their Insurance Fund due to uncertainty and anxiety for the future.
The withdrawal does not mean that the peasant workers do not want to be insured, but the relations between the social security in the country cannot be effectively implementing the transfer.
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On the 21st of January, hundreds of staff from the Industrial and Commercial Bank in various provinces and cities of China protested. The bank is trying to buy off their “years of service” with a lower compensation.
The redundant staff from the Industrial and Commercial Bank from various parts of the country, since 2003, have repeatedly petitioned to the Beijing headquarters. They want a solution to their compensation issue.
The Bank originally promised that every employee will be compensated with 8,000 RMB Yuan, but in the end they only received 2,000 RMB Yuan.
They also didn’t get paid their pension or medical insurance.
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And now for our daily update on the NTDTV Divine Performing Arts “New Year Spectacular” show.
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The Chinese New Year Spectacular Show has reached San Francisco California where they will be performing four shows at the Orpheum Theatre.
Traditional Chinese culture has not been seen for the last 60 years and these shows intend to revive the lost culture through short plays.
Traditional Chinese culture includes many myths and legends. They reflect how our ancestors’ showed reverence to the divine and tried to embody the virtues of Taoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism.
For detailed information of the shows please visit www.bestchineseshows.com .
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