Asia-Cast

Asia Cast for Saturday 25th April

Prime minister of India Manmohan Singh

In this bulletin…

- CCP orders cover up of Siemens’ bribery;
- Child kidnapping rampant in China; and
- Peaceful second round of elections in India.

But first, here’s our SOH focus on China
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The Head of the Communist Regime’s propaganda department, Li Changchun, has ordered all state media to not to report on Chinese involvement of the Siemens bribery scandal which was uncovered by a U.S judge in 2007.

Under pressure in Germany and the US, Siemens has already submitted to all governments in countries involved, a list of all personnel, internationally, who have accepted bribes. The Editor in Chief of the Beijing Daily has divulged to media that the families of two CCP polit bureau committee members are on the list of those involved in the bribery scandal.

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Recent reports have shown that there is an unnerving increase in the amount of reported missing children all around China. They all seem to be aged between 12 to 13 years old. Interviewed parents state that the relevant departments are not actively participating in searching for them.

State media has reported that in Xushui village in Zhongyuan District, papers have reported the evidence of children being kidnapped for organ harvesting. This sinister practice has followed on from the organ harvesting reported on Falun Gong practitioners throughout China which has been proven true by legal studies abroad

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And now for the rest of today’s Asia Cast
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A key Taliban stronghold, the north western valley of Buner, has been abandoned by the Taliban. This news came amid fears that the Taliban were coming too close to the capital of nuclear armed Pakistan. The order for the Taliban’s retreat from Buner was given by Fazlullah, the Taliban commander in neighboring Swat valley.

Fazlullah’s aide Mehmood Khan said the militants were returning to Swat, and witnesses saw them leaving Buner in the early evening. There are growing fears in the U.S over the Taliban’s successes in drawing closer to Pakistan’s nuclear armed areas.

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The general election in India has progressed with its second stage proceeding without violence. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh voted under armed guard in the election that could see a coalition formed for India.

The ruling Congress party-led coalition appears to lead against an alliance headed by the Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), but both may need the support of a host of smaller regional parties to win office.

Singh cast his vote in Guwahati, the principal city of the northeastern state of Assam which had been hit by a string of Maoist separatist bombings in the run up to the election.

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You’re listening to Asia Cast on the SOH Radio Network
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In Egypt, one of the worlds hardest struck areas for bird flu, a 33-year-old woman has died of the H5N1 bird flu virus, Egypt’s third human death from bird flu in a week. The lady is Egypt’s 26th bird flu victim. The country has seen a surge of H5N1 virus cases in recent weeks, with eight new human infections in April alone—as many as in all of 2008.

Many millions of Egyptians rely on their poultry as a source of food and income. This has been a major concern for the government and The World Health Organization which is planning a massive study to monitor and gauge H5N1 within the country.

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A Canadian spokesperson, Dimitri Soudas, said on Wednesday that Cuba would have to meet minimum standards on human rights and democracy before Canada supported any reintegration of Havana into the Organization of American States (OAS).

Mr Soudas said that he welcomes the move by Barrack Obama to ease restrictions on family ties with Cuba and to allow U.S. telecommunications firms to provide service for Cubans. He encouraged Cuba to respond even though the Former President, Fidel Castro remarked on Tuesday that his country has no desire to rejoin the OAS.

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And now for our Shen Yun Performing Arts quote of the day
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Christine, a research doctor, saw the show in Sydney Australia on the 23rd of April. The show in Australia will have visited 4 cities by the time it moves on to Los Angeles U.S.A. She said she liked the whole performance and that every act was lovely. She stated that the operatic singers were at such a high standard that they really didn’t to need to use their microphones.

Experience true Chinese culture like never before as Shen Yun Performing Arts presents classical Chinese dance and music in gloriously colourful and exhilarating shows.

SOH is a proud sponsor of the Shen Yun Performing Arts 2009 World Tour. For more information please visit www.shenyunperformingarts.org.

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

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