Film Review

09 January 2009 04:57 BST

Continental view - Asia

A summary of the top news stories making the headlines in Asia in the last week.

Trouble began to loom again in Asia this week as talks over North Korea's potential nuclear disarmament began to stall.

Six-way discussions are being held with Japan, Russia, China and both North and South Korea over the rogue state's nuclear aspirations. US chief negotiator Christopher Hill said that he heard nothing in their opening meeting "to fill me up with a sense of holiday spirit", however.

A distinctly un-festive atmosphere of impasse appears to be shrouding the negotiations, which got off to a bad start when North Korea's vice minister for foreign affairs, Kim Kye-gwan, stated that nuclear disarmament would not occur until all US sanctions are lifted.

"They should come to it in a mood of trying to reach a deal," Mr Hill complained.

Stability of a different kind was placed under threat on Tuesday after the Thai stock exchange collapsed by 15 per cent in one day.

The fall, compared by analysts to the beginnings of the devastating 1997 crisis, occurred after central authorities placed restrictive new regulations on foreign investment in the country.

The regulations had been introduced following growing concerns about the rapidly rising baht, the Thai currency. Under the rules, anyone selling over $20,000 (£10,149) of foreign currency would need to deposit 30 per cent of the amount into the zero interest central bank for one year or give up a third of the 30 per cent deposit.

After the Bank of Thailand rescinded some of the new regulations the market recovered on Thursday, opening nine per cent higher.

Meanwhile central Asia's balance of power shifted yesterday following the death of Turkmenistan's president, Saiparmurat Niyazov.

The president-for-life had been the leader of the oil-rich country for 20 years and had been taking medication for a heart condition. He was 66 years old.

Since coming to power in 1991 Mr Niyazov ruled Turkmenistan with an iron fist. Amnesty International said that a clampdown in the country had "led to many civil society activists, political dissidents, members of religious minority groups and their families being arbitrarily detained, tortured or ill-treated and imprisoned after unfair trials".

Finally, energy ministers from the US, Japan, China, South Korea and India agreed a deal to promote energy efficiency on Saturday.

At a gathering in Beijing, representatives of states that consume about 45 per cent of the world's oil discussed ways to tackle energy problems.

The ministers issued a joint statement calling for cooperation on strategic oil stocks to underpin international energy security. Their statement also urged oil-producing nations to reduce regulations on foreign investment.

The month in Asia

Major developments occurring in the last four weeks across the Asian continent include:

Peace in Nepal. The country's prime minister signed a historic deal on November 21st allowing Maoist rebels to enter an interim government, ending over a decade of conflict.

Regime change in Fiji. The head of the Pacific state's military, Commander Frank Bainimarama, overthrew the democratically elected government on December 5th. Fiji was thrown out of the Commonwealth three days later as the new regime consolidated its power.

Japanese jitters. Concern about the health of the Japanese economy escalated this month after figures showed its growth rate was less than half that expected. The Bank of Japan responded on December 19th by postponing the expected interest rate rise, maintaining the base rate at its current level of 0.25 per cent.

Test your film knowledge and win...