Asia-Cast

Asia Cast for Thursday 31st July

In this Bulletin…

- Severe air pollution makes the Games in Beijing a “mask Olympics.”
- Chinese Regime Reneges on Olympics Internet Promises
- U.N. Council Set to Renew Darfur Peacekeeping Mandate

But first, here’s our SOH focus on China
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According to reports by the Epoch Times, although the Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau stressed that Beijing’s air quality would not affect the health of athletes, but environmental organizations criticized that Beijing’s air pollution index is still concerned issue.

Athletes in sports competitions will also contend each other in anti-pollution technology, including the United States, South Korea, Japan, Britain and other countries that have publicly announced they would give masks to their athletes to deal with the problem of environmental pollution.

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CNN reporters driven away by public security when trying to interview over forcible demolition during the Olympics

According to TVBS report, in another week or so Beijing Olympics will commence. For the Olympics Beijing authority is still forcibly evicting residents residing in city lanes.

The compensation offered by the government is simply inadequate in relocation of homes.

CNN reporters approached a site under construction for in-depth interviews when they were unexpectedly intercepted by public security checks at various levels, with security staff at the site adopted human sea tactics to obstruct CNN from interviewing, meeting strong expulsion.

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And now for the rest of today’s Asia Cast
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Chinese media reports that many charities in China have only received a small portion of pledged donations.

According to the statistics released by China’s Ministry of Commerce, as of May 27, a number of the 400 Chinese, Taiwanese and international companies that have pledged to donate to the earthquake affected areas have failed to fulfill their promise.

On July 3, Youth Weekend quoted Mr. Wang Liwei, publisher of Philanthropist magazine, as he explained that “pledging but not donating” is an unspoken rule for Chinese charities. According to Wang, charities usually only receive seven percent of pledged donations

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The Chinese regime announced that it would maintain its censorship of overseas Web sites for journalists covering the Beijing Olympics, thereby reneging on earlier promises to allow unfiltered Internet access for news media. Spokespeople for the regime cited Falun Gong Web sites in particular as being among the censored sites.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is believed to have agreed to the Chinese regime’s decision, despite IOC head Jacques Rogge’s claims earlier this month that “there will be no censorship on the Internet.”

IOC press commission chairman Kevan Gosper confirmed the news: “I have also been advised that some of the IOC officials had negotiated with the Chinese that some sensitive sites would be blocked,” he said. “I am disappointed the access is not wider.”

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You’re listening to Asia Cast on the SOH Radio Network
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The U.N. Security Council is set to renew a mandate for peacekeepers in Sudan’s war-ravaged Darfur region on Thursday in a resolution calling for redoubled efforts to end a 5-year humanitarian disaster.

The 15 council members struck a deal on a revised British draft resolution after Western powers agreed to include wording that echoes African Union concerns that International Criminal Court moves to indict sudan’s President Omar Hassan al-Bashir for war crimes could derail the fragile Darfur peace process.

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Pojaman Shinawatra the wife of Thailand’s deposed prime minister Thaksin has been sentenced to three years in jail for tax fraud.

Her brother and secretary were also found guilty of evading tax of $16.3m in a 1997 shares transfer in the family telecoms business.

The ex-PM himself, deposed in a 2006 coup, is being tried in the Supreme Court for alleged corruption.

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

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