Asia-Cast

Asia Cast for Wednesday 9th June

In this Bulletin…

- Chinese Foxconn suicides in doubt;
- South Korea encouraging less work, more procreation; and
- Send your face to space.

But first we have our Shen Yun quote of the day

[Audio]

For more information please visit www.ShenYunPerformingArts.org.

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Our SOH focus on China is next

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New online statements imply death by beating rather than suicide at the Chinese Foxconn manufacturing plant may have occurred, reports The Epoch Times.

A blogger who claims to work for Foxconn posted statements all over the internet. He claims some of the suicide victims were actually beaten to death by Foxconn security.

He believes the ninth suicide was instead a homicide saying, a suicide victim could not have stabbed himself four times, jumped off the roof, and flipped over a fence.

He also said two other Foxconn employees had been sent to security and beaten to death, rather than suicides.

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The Epoch Times recently interviewed a Chinese university lecturer arrested in 2007 for showing a video to students of the Tiananmen Square Massacre.

Upon his recent release from detention, he was interviewed by The Epoch Times to commemorate the 21st anniversary of the student-led appeal at Tiananmen Square.

He had never imagined that he would be arrested for lecturing about the incident almost two decades after its occurrence. He said although the topic is considered sensitive in China, it is still unavoidable.

He still wondered if it was truly illegal to include a historical event in his lecture.

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And now for the rest of today’s Asia Cast

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South Korea plans to encourage its labour force to work less overtime in hopes to create more jobs, boost productivity and the nation’s decreasing birth rate.

A top labour policy group said they plan to cut work hours to less than 1,900 by 2020. In 2008 South Koreans worked on average 2,256 hours a year.

The group will map out policies while launching a publicity campaign aimed at encouraging employees to leave their workplace earlier.

They also said working long hours contributed to a low birth rate and hindered the country’s development.

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Benigno Aquino III is set to be officially declared the Philippines’ next president. Parliament released the final results of the presidential election on Tuesday.

Aquino won nearly 42 percent of the total vote, well ahead of his opponent and closest rival, former President Joseph Estrada.

Newly elected Aquino is an economics graduate and former congressman and senator. He says his top priorities are fighting corruption, improving the economy, and bridging the enormous wealth divide in the Philippines.

He is to take office when Gloria Arroyo, the outgoing president, steps down on June 30 after almost a decade in office.

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

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A group of Australian ecologists say crocodiles can ride ocean currents to cross hundreds of miles of open sea.

Research by the group explains how the world’s largest living reptile came to occupy so many South Pacific islands despite having very little stamina for swimming.

Their research began in 2002 in Queensland.After tagging 27 crocs with sonar and looking at results, they saw from satellite images the animals were indeed following current systems.

One male swam 367 miles over 25 days to another river. They say movements of the crococdiles proved deliberate.

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You may not be able to fly aboard a space shuttle, but you can get some face time in outer space, digitally speaking.

NASA’s “Face in Space” web project lets you submit your digital portrait for uploading to real space shuttles during their final flights.

On the project’s website you can choose which shuttle mission you want your image to fly on. Simply type your name into the form, upload a digital image and size it to fit inside the virtual shuttle’s window.

The website was just opened yesterday but it’s already grown quite popular with space fans all over.

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