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Biography explores the man behind Godzilla

Back in the 1950s, Japan was in full flight rebuilding its cities and economy following their destruction during World War Two. Then, to the surprise of everyone, a 150-foot tall lizard came out of the ocean and set about destroying Tokyo. It was Godzilla, an irradiated mutant monster that came via the imagination and movie magic of special effects legend Eiji Tsuburaya.

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Russian retirees eyeing Chinese wealth

The two massive neighbouring nations of China and Russia have a shared history of distrust, annexation fears and ethnic differences. They share long borders and a Communist past, but in the late 1960s nearly came to blows, in which Russia threatened to use tactical nuclear weapons. China’s new wealth is becoming an attraction for retirees in the former Soviet nation, and they’re moving their roubles across the border – breaking tradition and creating new issues for a nation with it’s own migration problems.

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Radical new approach to Indonesia illegal fishing

Indonesia is today deporting more than 400 Thai and Vietnamese crew members of illegal fishing boats that have been caught poaching in Indonesian waters. The scale of Indonesia’s illegal fishing problem is enormous, and traditional methods to slow down the plunder of marine stocks is simply not working. But as Adam Connors reports, Indonesia is about to deploy some radical new methods which may entice foreign poachers to contribute to Indonesia’s economy.

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Division over Thai military rule

Thailand goes to the polls on December the 23rd to elect a new government. It is hoped that this time the military’s generals will not intervene as they have 18 times in recent history by staging coups against a sitting government. But what, if anything, has the military achieved in Thailand over the past year that made them think they could do better than Thaksin Shinawatra’s deposed Thai Rak Thai party?

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Vietnam dissident released amid rights concerns

Yesterday Vietnam deported a Vietnamese-American pro-democracy activist after his arrest last month with a group of other dissidents triggered protests from the United States. And last week, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom reported that Vietnam’s overall human rights record remained very poor, and has deteriorated in the last year.

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China rich list rising in boom

China’s economy is experiencing unprecedented growth as a whole and there’s a growing number of individuals who are entering the lists of the world’s rich – and even super rich. In their annual China Rich List, now in it’s tenth year tracking the people captaining the Chinese economy, Hurun Report has unearthed some truly stunning data amongst the 800,000 millionaires, and 106 billionaires, at the top of the financial pile.

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