Asia Cast

Asia Cast for Saturday 28th February

In this bulletin…

- Three self-immolate in Beijing;
- Canadian air force intercept Russian bomber; and
- Shanghai to clean public toilets ahead of World Expo.

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China has scored its first deal in more than a decade to launch a private communications satellite for major European operator, Eutelsat Communications.

The move comes 8 months after Eutelsat discontinued transmission of New Tang Dynasty TV broadcasts into China, which often featured uncensored news from China. Reporters Without Borders obtained evidence the termination was politically motivated.

They released an interview transcript of a Eutelsat representative saying the decision was made by company CEO in France after repeated complaints from the Communist regime who would say, “Stop that TV station before we begin to talk.”

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Chinese trade Minister Chen Deming said firms made deals worth “more than 10 billion dollars” with German companies on Wednesday.

The deals would benefit Germany’s troubled automobile firms Audi, BMW, Daimler and Volkswagon. Thirty-six contracts were signed in total.

Finnish-German telecom equipment maker Nokia Siemens Networks said it had also won two network deals worth a total of around 880 million euros (1.1 billion dollars) in China.

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Visitors to next year’s World Expo may expect relief from the city’s foul public toilets. More than 5,200 public toilets will be cleaned and renovated to meet an expected 70 million Expo visitors’ “urgent needs,” said the head of the city’s urban management bureau.

Chinese toilets have endured a poor reputation among foreigners for many years. Foul smells, a lack of toilet paper, failures to flush, and having to squat rather than sit on a seat, are some of the common complaints.

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Three people attempted to self-immolate at a location very close to Tiananmen Square. They were two men and one woman, and were sitting in a car. One of the three died on the spot, the others taken to hospital for emergency treatment.

A Beijing regime spokesperson said that the incident happened at around 3:00 pm at the intersection between Wangfujing Street and Chang’an Avenue.

There were three individuals from Xinjiang Province and had come to Beijing to petition for injustices.

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A Russian bomber was intercepted by Candian fighters planes less than 24 hours before US President Barack Obama’s visit to Ottawa last week, Canadian Defence Minister Peter MacKay said on Friday.

The long-range Bear bomber did not enter Canada’s Arctic airspace but the two CF-18 fighters had to order the plane to “back off”, MacKay told a news conference.

He also told reporters that Russia had not warned Canada that the flight was coming, a statement that a Russian government source in Moscow dismissed as farcical.

The Russian government source said Canada had been informed about the flight before it took off.

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A mutiny by paramilitary troops killed at least 80 people, mostly army officers, in Bangladesh. The impoverished South Asian nation has suffered several military coups since independence in 1971.

This week’s mutiny by Bangladesh Rifles border guards was about pay and command and was not politically motivated, said officials.

The mutiny ended late on Thursday when the rebels laid down their arms after an amnesty offer, made by Hasina late on Wednesday, was followed by threats of stronger action as regular troops, backed by tanks, surrounded the BDR complex in Dhaka.

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Annette Lu (Lu Hsiulien), former vice president of Taiwan attended the DPA in Taiwan.

She said, “Wow! The performers are very beautiful and attractive. The dance is very gorgeous. The costumes are also stunning. They are like heavenly ladies descending to the secular world.”

Born in Taoyuan, Taiwan, Ms. Lu graduated from Taipei First Girls’ High School and later was accepted into the Law Department at National Taiwan University (NTU) with the highest entrance exam score of those admitted. She later received her master’s degree abroad.

To see when the DPA is coming to a city near you visit www.divineshows.com

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