AsiaCast

Asia Cast for Thursday 17th April

In this Bulletin

- Six high school students and one teacher killed by flash flooding
- Chinas 21% steep rise in food prices and
- Two thousand police seizes temple in Mangkang Tibet

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North Korea is facing a severe food crisis, a UN agency has warned.

The situation there was “clearly bad and getting worse”, a senior World Food Programme official said, and help was needed to avert serious tragedy.

North Korea has been dependent on international food aid for years.

But severe flooding last year compounded its problems, devastating large swathes of agricultural land and leading to a poor harvest.

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Six high school students and a teacher have been killed by flash flooding North Island’s Tongariro National Park, New Zealand.

The school group, were taking part in an outdoor adventure when police say that they were swept away by rising river water after a sudden rain storm.

New Zealand’s Prime Minister Helen Clark described the deaths as “an unspeakable tragedy”.

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Beijing-bound Australian athletes will be tested for asthma to identify those vulnerable to air pollution in the Chinese capital.
“As preparation for the 2008 Olympic Games, the Australian Olympic Committee is endeavouring to conduct asthma screenings for prospective members of the 2008 team,” the AOC said.

Australia is preparing to send a record-sized team of almost 500 athletes to Beijing.

The Chinese capital is one of the world’s most polluted cities and athletes and officials have expressed concern about poor air quality during the August 8-24 Games.

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China’s food prices have risen to a steep 21% so far this year, fuelling concerns about inflation in the economy.

The surge was confirmed by the National Bureau of Statistics, which also revealed that economic growth eased slightly in the first quarter.

Growth dipped to 10.6% from 11.2% in the last three months of 2007, the weakest performance in over a year.
Rising food prices could cause major global instability, it has been warned.

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Tibetan people continue to protest against the actions of the China’s Communist Party.

Monks in a temple of Mangkang County in Qamdo, Tibet left their temples collectively as they refused to accept the “patriotic education” arranged by the authorities.

Currently, two thousand police are still surrounding the temple. According to the “Voice of Tibet” on the 15th, based on a reliable source, in the morning of 14th April, Tibetan people began another peaceful protest regardless of the repression by Communists’ armed police.

Soon after, the demonstration was suppressed by military troops. At the moment, the casualties or arrests, remains unknown.

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Today marks the first of four of the Divine Arts Chinese Spectacular shows performing in Auckland New Zealand .

The Divine Performing Arts Troupe’s New York and Global Tour teams will also perform in over 60 cities around the world and will reach approximately 650,000 attendees worldwide.

The essence of traditional Chinese culture, such as respect for Heaven, virtue, morality and sincerity, are gradually becoming extinct today. When the Divine Performing Arts Troupe tours around the world, it will revive the long-forgotten divine traditional Chinese culture on stage.

For show information please visit www.DivineShows.com
“Asia Cast… keeping you across the top headlines from Asia and the World.”