AsiaCast

Asia Cast for Monday 25th August

In this Bulletin…

- Chinese classical dance competition announces winners;
- China’s regime asked to release eight US activists; and
- Kyrgyz airliner crashed in a ball of flames

-But first, here’s our SOH focus on China
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The final round for the second annual International NTDTV Chinese Classical Dance Competition concluded on August 24th. After a very intense round of preliminaries and semi-finals which took place on Friday and Saturday, a total of 30 elite dancers managed to make it to the final round.

The finals were held at The Town Hall Foundation in Manhattan, and the awards ceremony took place after a Divine Performing Arts show at the Hammerstein Ballroom on 34th St. later that evening.

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China’s communist party has been asked by the US to release eight US activists held for mounting pro-Tibet rallies during the Olympics.

In a statement, the US embassy said it was “disappointed” China had not used the Olympics “to demonstrate greater tolerance and openness”.

The authorities say the protesters will be freed by the end of the month.
Before the Games, the authorities said protests would be allowed in three designated areas, but it never approved any of the applications to use them.

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And now for the rest of today’s Asia Cast
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An around-the-clock curfew has been set on Sunday by Officials in Indian-administered Kashmir, a day before separatist groups plan to hold a rally to oppose Indian rule in the Muslim-majority region.

Monday’s sit-in at Lal Chowk, or Red Square, is one of several demonstrations over the last two weeks to revive calls for independence for the Himalayan territory.

Police went around the capital city of Srinagar and surrounding towns, announcing the curfew through loudspeakers and asking residents to stay indoors.

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About 70 people, including members of a teenage basketball team, died on Sunday when a Kyrgyz airliner crashed in a ball of flames shortly after take-off from the Central Asian state’s main airport.

Kyrgyz officials, who issued conflicting reports on the death toll and number of people aboard the Boeing 737, said the blaze was so fierce many victims could not be identified.

A government spokesman said of the 87 passengers and seven crew on board, only 24 survived, including two crew members.

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A U.S. navy warship delivered humanitarian aid on Sunday for victims of Georgia’s brief war with Russia while Moscow ignored Western demands to pull its remaining troops from the country’s heartland.

Russia says residual troops are peacekeepers needed to avert further bloodshed and to protect Georgia’s separatist, pro-Moscow provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

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Assassinated former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto’s widower will be a presidential candidate, an official of his party said on Saturday, a move that will be controversial if the presidency retains strong powers.

Who will replace Pervez Musharraf, who resigned as president last Monday and whose strongman rule was unpopular with most Pakistanis, is one of a number of issues preoccupying ruling coalition parties as economic and security problems mount.

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