Asia-Cast

Asia Cast for Saturday 27th February

In this Bulletin …

- China has lowest minimum wage in the world;
- Aung San Suu Kyi’s appeal rejected; and
- Thailand Supreme Court takes half of Thaksin fortune.

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 has now been named the country with the lowest wage in the world, according to World Wage Research.

China even fell below 32 African countries with its annual wage less than 15 per cent than the world average.

Liu Zhirong, an independent Chinese scholar and author of World Wage Research, said his research showed that the lowest average annual income of the 183 countries and regions in the world is approximately $6,078 US dollars. While China’s is only $896 US dollars.

Liu says that if he did his research by asking the common Chinese people, he thinks their average wage would be lower.

For more on this story read The Epoch Times.

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An explosion at a starch company in Qinghuangdao, Hebei Province, in China has killed at least 19 people and left 49 injured.

It is believed that the explosion was caused by dust. The work safety manager and workshop leader have been taken into custody by the Public Safety Department.

The Hebei Provincial Government has set up an investigative group. Both Fu Ning County and Qinghuangdao City have appointed staff to conduct their own investigations.

The company has the highest production and profit of starch in China. The company has 3,300 employees and one billion yuan, $150 million US dollars, in total assets.

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And now for the rest of today’s Asia Cast

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Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s appeal against her extended house arrest has been rejected by Myanmar’s Supreme Court.

Suu Kyi, 64, will have her last chance to appeal to a special court in Myanmar’s new capital, Naypidaw.

The Nobel Peace Prize laureate’s house arrest was extended by 18 months last August after uninvited American John Yettaw stayed at her lakeside home. Suu Kyi was then accused by Myanmar’s ruling military junta of breaching the terms of her house arrest.

For most of the past two decades she has been imprisoned or under house arrest.

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An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.3 has struck off southern Japan, prompting officials to issue a tsunami alert.

The US Geological Survey showed the earthquake struck 84 kilometres (52 miles) east of Naha at 0531 (2031 GMT) on the island of Okinawa.

The quake was only 29 kilometres (18 miles) below the seabed.

The quake was felt on Okinawa, with shaking that lasted about 15 seconds, said Lieutenant Cornel Daniel King of the US Pacific Command.

Japan is hit quite frequently by earthquakes. In 1995, a magnitude-7.2 quake in the western port city of Kobe killed 6,400 people.

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

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Former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s family will have more than half of their $2.3billion fortune taken from them, as ruled by Thailand’s Supreme Court.

The court says that half of their assets were obtained illegally through conflict of interest when Mr Thaksin was prime minister.

After Mr Thaksin’s elected government was overthrown in a military coup in 2006, the family’s funds were frozen.

Mr Thaksin, who is living out of the country, has denied any wrongdoing.

However, the Supreme Court said to confiscate all the money would be unfair, as some of it was made before Thaksin became prime minister.

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Seventeen people have been killed and many others wounded in a deadly blast targeting foreign nationals in the Afghan capital, Kabul, on Friday.

Authorities are still trying to find out how many people died and the nationalities of those killed.

First a suicide car bomb exploded followed by four other suicide bombers with explosive-laden vests, said Taliban spokesman Zaidullah Mujahid. Three of the bombers were killed, he said.

A second large explosion occurred 20 minutes later.

The Taliban said they were responsible for the attacks near the Safi Landmark Hotel in the neighbourhood of Shahr-E-Naw. The neighbourhood has many well off Afghans.

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“Asia Cast … Keeping you across the top headlines from Asia and the world.”