AsiaCast

Asia Cast for Tuesday 1st April

In this Bulletin

-Chad’s president pardons convicted French aid workers
-China to ban smoking for Olympic Games and
-Archaeologists recovers 4000 year old necklace

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Six French aid workers have been released after being convicted of plotting to kidnap African children for adoption in Europe following a pardon by Chad’s president.

The six workers from a charity called Zoe’s Ark had tried to take the 103 children to France for adoption, claiming they were evacuating orphans from Sudan’s Darfur region.

But investigations showed the children were Chadian, and that most had at least one parent or close adult relative.

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At least 500 people gathered in Sydney as part of a global day of action against violence in Tibet.

Today’s protests have been timed to coincide with the handover of the Olympic torch to Chinese representatives.
Many of the speeches have called for boycotts of the Beijing Games.

Speakers have called for China to not take the Olymic torch into Tibet and to give greater media freedom.

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In May, Beijing plans to ban or restrict smoking in most public venues as part of its pledge to hold a smoke-free Olympics, local media reported on Monday, citing the city’s legal office.

New legislation to take effect on May 1 will forbid smoking at government offices and on public transport, the Beijing Morning Post said, but falls short of setting outright bans at restaurants, bars and clubs.

Smoking is already banned in cinemas, gymnasiums and other enclosed public places in the capital, but the rules are routinely flouted.

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A 4,000-year-old necklace has been recovered by a team of archaeologists which shows that gold was being used as a status symbol in the Americas much earlier than previously thought, according to a study.

The necklace is the oldest gold artifact discovered in the Americas to date and was found in the remains of a burial site in the Lake Titicaca basin of southern Peru.

It shows that the complex social developments which lead to status displays were present while hunter-gatherers were just beginning to settle into permanent villages.

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And now for our original SOH news direct from China
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Under the arrangement of Chinese government, diplomats from 15 countries made an inspection in Lhasa at the end of last week and returned to Beijing late Saturday, according to Mainland China resources.

It has been reported from Associated Press and other Western media, as well as the Hong Kong television, the protests and demonstrations broke out again mainly in Lhasa’s Jokhang Temple and near the Ramoche Temple, in which the monks and lamas have participated in.

A few days ago, when the 17 Foreign Medias had the on-site interviews in Lhasa, Monks suddenly dashed out of the Jokhang Temple to express their sufferings, which lasted over 10 minutes.

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Today Divine Performing Arts Chinese Spectacular will again be performing in Stockholm before continuing on to Bucuresti and than heading of to Milan.

People from all walks of life are turning out to experience the dance, drumming and soul-stirring traditions from China’s past, traditions that are now establishing a new era in China’s history.

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

For show information please visit www.DivineShows.com

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