Asia Cast

Asia Cast for Thursday 28th February

In this Bulletin

-Columbian rebels free 4 hostages
-Contaminated water supply affects at least 200,000 people and
-Rice urges Chinese leaders to put pressure on North Korea

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The chief interrogator of Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge cried while visiting a prison he commanded and where more than 14,000 people were killed.

Kaing Geuk Eav, also known as Duch, wept during the visit to the S-21 prison, a day after he wept while visiting a mass grave at Choeung Ek.

The visits were led by judges from a UN-backed tribunal which has charged Duch with crimes against humanity.

Duch is the first of five senior Khmer Rouge officials to be charged by the tribunal, but a date for the trial has yet to be set.

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In Colombia—Marxist rebels freed four Colombian lawmakers held hostage for years in the jungle Wednesday, in a victory for President Hugo Chavez of neighboring Venezuela who brokered the deal.

Venezuelan helicopters painted with Red Cross logos swooped into the dense jungle to pick up the three men and a woman, all snatched by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, more than six years ago.

Chacon said the handover raised hopes for a broader deal to free dozens more hostages, including three Americans whose plight has drawn worldwide attention to the rebels’ captives.

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Water supplies contaminated by pollution have affected at least 200,000 people in central China with branches of a major river system having turned red.

At least three tributaries of the Han river - a branch of the Yangtze - have been affected.

State media reported high levels of chemicals in the water.

China is increasingly concerned about its environment. A recent ban on plastic bags has led to the country’s largest bag factory shutting down.

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Chinese leaders have been urged by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to put pressure on North Korea to move ahead quickly with nuclear disarmament.

She was speaking during a two-day visit to Beijing, her first for over a year.

Ms Rice met President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao, and held talks with foreign minister Yang Jiechi.

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A senior Chinese government official says the diversion of water for Beijing Olympic Games threatens the livelihoods of millions of people.

The official, An Qiyuan, from Shaanxi province, told the UK’s Financial Times newspaper that people in north-western provinces should be compensated.

He warned of social upheaval and environmental harm because of the strain put on local water supplies.

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And now for our original SOH news direct from China
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After “Power Ant” Tianxi Group of Liaoning Province was declared bankruptcy, 1.3 million households of ant farmers became creditors, however they are have not only become deprived of rights for any settlements, but also brutally suppressed by deliberate means by authorities.

Epoch Times reported on 26th February that Liaoning Provincial Party Committee recently was instructed to publicize some of the severe suppressing policy set forth at the conference so as to show “its ready stance to deal with “Power Ants” case to maintain stability of society as well as crackdown on those who try to appeal”.

The minutes of the meeting recorded that authorities deems the case as “the top priority to safeguard stability of the entire Liaoning Province”; to enforce supervision to prevent ant breeders appealing to higher authorities.

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