Asia-Cast

Asia Cast for Monday 15th March

In this Bulletin…

- Food expert exposes food-safety problems in China;
- Over 100,000 chickens culled in Bangladesh bird flu outbreak; and
- Taliban target U.S. NATO forces in recent blast.

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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Chairman of the Grain Association in Guangshui and food processing industry veteran Mr. Li, warns of harmful food safety problems, reports The Epoch Times.

In a letter to media in China, he said industrial bleach is commonly used in flour. It can harm the liver and kidneys and circulatory system if used in high doses.

Pig farms routinely add chemicals, hormones, and drugs to their pig feed which have not been tested.

And, Mr. Li, told an SOH reporter about the practice of polishing rice with soybean oil. He said it turns rancid quickly and can harm the digestive system.

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Chinese computer specialists have developed new anti-censorship software to penetrate the Great Firewall of China.

Striving to gain freedom of information on the Internet, the anonymous group started the project in July of 2008.

The developers named the project after 13th century play, Xi Xiang Ji about a young scholar who climbed over a wall to have secret meetings with his lover.

The software enables users to easily bypass the Great Firewall of China.

The Firewall is a regime-sponsored Internet surveillance tool that censors what hundreds of millions of Chinese Internet-users can and cannot access.

For more on this story, visit The Epoch Times.

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And now for the rest of today’s Asia Cast

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Twenty-six students died after their bus plunged into a river in the Northern Indian state of Rajasthan, say local police. 11 were female students of a local college.

The students in the bus were returning to Sawai Madhopur district from their visit to the holy city of Vrindavan.

Around 34 students suffered injuries when the bus fell into the Morel River.

Police say the bus smashed through a barrier as it was crossing a bridge when it plunged into the river.

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Local officials in Dhaka, Bangladesh say at least 117,600 chickens were destroyed on Sunday after an avian flu outbreak occurred at one of the country’s largest poultry farms.

The deadly H5N1 strain was detected on Saturday. That was when 400 chickens had suddenly died at the Kazi Farms complex.

Tests confirmed the presence of H5N1 bird flu in 15 sheds on the farm. The district livestock chief then ordered the destruction of all layer chickens.

They also destroyed 200,000 eggs. They estimate the farm’s total losses at US$6 million dollars.

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

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In a very solemn and public declaration, Kazakhstan’s president demanded answers over a deadly flooding that killed 35 people. He is calling for the prosecution of anyone suspected of causing the flood.

The flooding devastated a village when a dam burst in the Almaty region. The dam failed after flood-waters of melting snow and rainfall accumulated. About 1,000 villagers were evacuated.

An investigation into the incident will search for failures in repair work protocols which may have led to the dam’s failure.

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Saturday’s bomb attacks in Kandahar city, in Afghanistan were a warning to U.S. and NATO forces, say the Taliban.

A Taliban spokesman told an international news-wire service the blasts were in retaliation to comments made by the commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan.

Commander of U.S. and NATO forces, General McChrystal said they planned to target the Kandahar region to wipe out the Taliban.

The main target appeared to be Kandahar’s prison, though no prisoners escaped.

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