AsiaCast

Asia Cast for Monday 21st April

In this Bulletin…

- 81 killed in Somalia;
- Chinese arms shipment leaves South African waters; and
- Protests continue in China.

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Chairman of the Elman Peace and Human Rights Organisation, Sudan Ali Ahmed, has confirmed that 81 people had been killed in the past 24 hours in Somalia in some of the heaviest clashes in months.

Somali Islamist insurgents and government troops exchanged mortar fire on Sunday in the Islamist stronghold of northern Mogadishu where the government and its Ethiopian allies are trying to flush out the remnants of a sharia courts movement ousted from the capital at the end of 2006.

Mr Ahmed’s group estimates that 6,500 people were killed last year in Somalia ‘s conflict and 1.5 million uprooted from their homes.

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A Chinese ship loaded with arms and ammunition destined for Zimbabwe has re-charted its course to to Luanda, after being refused entry into South African ports.

South Africa’s High Court ruled Friday the cargo could be offloaded in the Durban port, but it could not pass over South Africa roads to get to Zimbabwe, a country in crisis because of an election stalemate.

Durban’s dockworkers also said they would not handle the cargo, fearing the arms would be used by the Zimbabwean government against its own people.
A South African government source told CNN the China-flagged An Yue Jiang had sailed away from Durban Friday evening before the High Court’s order could be served to the ship’s captain.

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China’s state run media has confirmed that protests against Tibetan independence have continued Sunday in several Chinese cities with demonstrators also expressing their anger about what they see as biased reporting of the Tibet story by Western media organizations including CNN and BBC.

Protesters gathered outside the French supermarket Carrefour in several Chinese cities to express their anger at the way protests disrupted the Olympic torch relay in Paris on April 7.

During Sunday’s demonstrations, some held banners condemning “Tibet secessionists in France tearing up the Five-Star Red Flag,” according to Xinhua.

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Nepal’s authorities have said they are prepared to use force – including gunfire – to prevent anti-Beijing protests during the Olympic torch relay up Mount Everest.

The torch is scheduled to be brought up the peak from the northern, Chinese Tibetan side in early May.

Experts say Nepal does not want to alienate China, one of its two neighbours and a country it depends on for foreign aid and diplomatic support.

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The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has offered to support countries dealing with the effects of rising food prices, offering loans to countries to subsidise food costs to the poor.

No countries have asked for help yet, but ADB President Haruhiko Kuroda said Bangladesh, where there has been unrest over food prices, would qualify.

In the past year, the cost of staples has soared, with wheat rising by 130% and rice up by 74%.

The World Bank has estimated that 100 million people could be pushed deeper into poverty by rising prices.

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And now for our original SOH news direct from China
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China’s official published data shows that in the first quarter of this year, over 19,000 people died in production accidents in China, an increase of 40% over the last quarter.

Cai Chongguo, who is responsible for “Chinese Labour Bulletin”, the headquarter of which is located in France, made the comments that: “the majority victims of the safety accidents are workers, farmers and the people who do not have money.”

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And now for our daily update on the NTDTV Divine Performing Arts “New Year Spectacular” show.
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Today the Divine Performing Arts Spectacular will open for one day of shows in Honolulu, Hawaii. On Wednesday it will reopen in Seattle, Washington.
Alfred and Dianna Mitchell were two audience members who saw the Spectacular in New Zealand last week.

When asked what most appealed to him about the show, Alfred said it was “the whole thing about truthfulness, compassion, and, forbearance.”
Dianna agreed and said she was also amazed by the singing by tenor Hong Ming.

For more information about the Divine Performing Arts world tour, please visit: www.divineperformingarts.org

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