Asia-Cast

Asia Cast for Tuesday 26th February

In this Bulletin

-British director questions his involvement in the Olympic Games
-Powerful earthquake hits Indonesia and
-Bird flu kills Vietnamese school teacher

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Following Steven Spielberg’s resignation from the Beijing Olympics Director Daryl Goodrich, admits he now questions his involvement in the games.

British director Daryl Goodrich, who has just made a promotional film for the Olympics, But in an interview with the BBC, Mr Goodrich admitted he was now uncomfortable with his role.

Mr Spielberg resigned as an artistic director to the Olympic Games earlier this month.

He said China was not doing enough to resolve the Darfur crisis.

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An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.3 has struck west of Indonesia’s Sumatra island, triggering panic and a brief tsunami warning.

There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.

Indonesia’s meteorology agency, which lifted a tsunami warning after about 45 minutes, put the quake at a shallower depth of 10 kilometres.

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A large fire has destroyed a shopping centre in Mandalay, Burma’s second largest city.

A second fire, in the former capital Rangoon, also reportedly destroyed scores of home.

No-one is reported to have been killed and the cause of the fires has not yet been identified.

There is no indication that the incidents were connected.

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In northern Vietnam, bird flue killed a school teacher, the country’s 51st death from the disease, said health officials.
The woman, 23, was infected in Phu Tho province, some 50 miles northwest of Hanoi.

She died in a Hanoi hospital Monday morning, said Nguyen Huy Nga, director of the Health Ministry’s Preventive Medicine Department.

Test results showed that she was infected with the H5N1 bird flu virus. It was the country’s 51st reported human death from bird flu since the virus began raging through Asian poultry stocks in late 2003.

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Archaeologists in Peru have found a ceremonial plaza built 5,500 years ago.

A team of Peruvian and German Archaeologists involved in the dig say carbon dating shows it is one of the oldest structures found in the Americas.

The archaeologists uncovered the circular plaza, which was hidden beneath another piece of architecture at the ruins known as Sechin Bajo, in Casma, 370 kilometres north of Lima, the capital.

Friezes depicting a warrior with a knife and trophies were found near the plaza.

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And now for our original SOH news direct from China
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The leakage of 270 kilograms of highly toxic chemicals near the sea in Zhejiang has led to one death.

One type of the hazardous chemicals, which can kill people just through drawing a few breaths, had been leaked, severely endangering the safety of thousands of people nearby, according to Zhejiang resources.

Drivers on the nearby highway died of inhaling excessive noxious gas, and quite a few people have been poisoned in the course of the rescue.

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Today marks the first Chinese Spectacular show performing in Pusan before continuing on to San Francisco and than across four continents, performing to audiences in over 60 cities.

Inspired by 5,000 years of Chinese history and traditional culture, the productions of Divine Performing Arts bring to life Chinese classical performing arts, astonishing audiences all over the world.

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

The international community is learning what the real China is all about while the Chinese audiences are reconnecting with China’s traditional culture.

For show information please visit http://holidaywonders.net/index_at.php
“Asia Cast… keeping you across the top headlines from Asia and the World.”