Asia-Cast

Asia Cast for Wednesday 13th January

In this Bulletin…

- Expert estimates hundreds of thousands die of H1N1 in China;
- Google to stop censorship on Google China; and
- Sharp rent increases forecast for Sydney, Australia.

But first we have our Shen Yun quote of the day

[audio]

For more information, please visit www.shenyunperformingarts.org.

Our SOH focus on China is next

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China reports its average death rate for H1N1 infections is 0.065, yet experts say it is certainly underestimated, report SOH investigators.

One expert, Dr Yan Jiaxin said this is because China has not developed a scientific system for monitoring epidemics.

Yan said WHO estimates up to 15 per cent of the world gets seasonal influenza, and the rate of H1N1 is higher than that.

Using those numbers, with 20 percent of China having H1N1 and the mortality rate at about one percent, hundreds of thousands of people would have died.

China’s reported average is twenty times lower than the world’s.

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Beijing has banned a free Microsoft computer training course, just two months after the facility offering the classes opened its doors.

According to local sources in Daxing County in Beijing, most of the students were appellants from across the country.

One petitioner told SOH that the Chinese regime does not allow assistance to petitioners, thus it regards such courses as defiant.

The courses were so popular, it was standing room only and some students were in their seventies.

It is reported that Microsoft provided the courses to the Chinese public free of charge.

For the whole story go to SOH Inside China Today.

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And now for the rest of today’s Asia Cast

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American Internet giant Google announced Tuesday it would stop censoring its search results on China’s version of Google website.

A post on Google’s blog said that over the coming weeks the company will be discussing with the Chinese regime on operating an unfiltered search engine within the law.

It also stated their decision to review business operations in China will have far-reaching consequences.

Google’s legal chief officer said they recognized it may mean shutting down China’s Google engine and potentially their offices.

In December Google detected a cyber-attack from China seeking access to Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists.

Read more on this at The Epoch Times.

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Christian leaders in Malaysia refused Tuesday to stop using the word Allah for God despite attacks on churches by extremists.

One church leader said his congregation would not drop the word even though they fear for their safety.

He stated that their forefathers became Christians in the 1920s, and they have been using Allah, even in their mother tongue.

Nine churches have been attacked since Friday by firebombs and in one case, paint.

The attacks were triggered by a court decision that overturned a government ban on Roman Catholics using the word Allah in their newspaper and bibles.

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“You’re listening to Asia Cast on the SOH Radio Network”

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Seven members of the Bahai faith are on trial in Iran, facing charges of spying, cooperating with Israel and corruption on earth, which carries the death sentence.

The Bahai religion is banned by the Islamic revolutionary leadership of Iran because it considers it heretical.

The group have been held since their arrest in 2008. They are being tried in a revolutionary court in Tehran.

It is not clear how long the trial will last.

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Australia’s Sydney tenants have been warned to ready themselves for a return to sharply rising rents as economists foresee the sluggish rental growth of 2009 ending soon.

New figures show rental prices remained steady in the December quarter.

However, one economist said rising interest rates and land tax increases will cause rents to increase at a higher rate in the coming year.

He said Sydney rents are likely to increase by at least double the 2009 rental rate increase of 2.2 percent.

This will see it approaching the $500 AUS dollar per week level for houses.

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