Asia-Cast

Asia Cast for Friday 19th March

In this Bulletin …

- China lashes out at UK human rights report;
- Obama postpones trip to Australia; and
- Fatty foods may affect the brain.

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 hit back at the UK after they did a review of human rights around the world and were highly critical of Beijing. In the report China was named as one of the 20 nations where human rights issues were a cause of major concern.

David Miliband, the British Foreign Secretary, had released the report immediately after visiting China.

Mr Miliband brought up the case of Gao Zhisheng, one of China’s most well-known human rights lawyers, who was taken away by police last year and has vanished.

Gao had been investigating human rights cases, mainly the persecution of Falun Gong adherents.

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An investigation is under way after a report surfaced that unsafe vaccines had led to the deaths of four children and sickened 74 others in China.

The Ministry of Health ordered the investigation after the China Economic Times reported the unsafe vaccines. The dangerous vaccines for encephalitis, hepatitis B, rabies and other illnesses were only being used in the northern province of Shanxi.

The province had been supplied with these problem vaccines since 2006, as outlined in the report.

The media report and the ministry’s order didn’t make it clear whether the vaccines themselves were dangerous or whether they had failed to protect children from illness.

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And now for the rest of today’s Asia Cast

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US President Barack Obama has postponed his trip to Indonesia and Australia until June.

Obama’s delay is due to him struggling to drive his health reform bill through Congress.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said they greatly regret the delay of the trip. But added that the health insurance reform is of top importance and the president is determined to see this battle through.

Obama made the decision under pressure from some Democrats.  The crucial vote in the House of Representatives on health reform would not take place until Sunday afternoon at the earliest.

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India will attempt to identify every member of its 1.2 billion population, in a national survey to be conducted from April 1.

Authorities say more than two million staff will be involved in the $820 million US dollar project. They say the identification program was motivated by concerns over national security and over widespread corruption undermining the government’s anti-poverty efforts.

The country has suffered a number of financial scandals in recent years involving lawmakers, bureaucrats, corporate firms and stock markets. While corruption ingrained in the government is seen as a major hurdle to the nation’s rise.

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At a UN wildlife meeting, the proposal to ban international trade in Atlantic bluefin tuna has been declined.

The decision came after Japan, Canada and many poor nations disagreed with the ban on the grounds it would devastate fishing economies.

However Monaco argued that the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas had not employed strict enough measures to ensure the species’ survival.

Scientists and campaigners working with conservation organisations were disappointed with the outcome.

Stocks have fallen by about 85 per cent since the industrial fishing era began.

Tom Strickland, head of the nation’s Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species said today’s vote was a setback for the Atlantic bluefin tuna.

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Professor Margaret Morris, a neuroscientist from the University of New South Wales, has found that certain fatty foods trigger the same response in the brain as some recreational drugs.

She says it could be a link between why one third of men and half of women in Australia are classified as obese.

Professor Morris said that her research showed having tasty food available makes people feel better and maybe part of the problem with the obesity epidemic.

She says that these foods maybe used to ease stress. She also added that these foods maybe used like a reward, so the person continues to do it because it makes them feel good.

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